San Antonio – St. Mary’s University baseball players Scott Shimek and Bobby Freeman were named Heartland Conference Pitcher and Hitter of the Week, respectively, it was announced by the league office on Wednesday for their play last weekend against the University of the Incarnate Word.
Shimek (Jr., Shiner) tossed his first shutout of the season, holding the high-powered Incarnate Word offense to just three hits and two walks on Friday. He also struck out four. No Cardinal advanced past second base in the game. The shutout was the first this season against the Cardinals. He improved to 10-0 in 12 starts, with three complete games and one shutout. He has a 3.12 ERA in 80.2 innings of work, with 97 strikeouts against just 31 walks. Opposing batters are hitting just .235 against him.
Freeman (Sr., Fair Oaks Ranch) hit .538 with three doubles, six RBI and two runs scored against Incarnate Word last weekend. He had hits in three of the four games last week. He also had two hits in two games and three hits in one game. In the first game of the series he went 2-of-4 with a three-run double that helped the Rattlers send the game into extra innings. In the second game of the series he went 2-for-2 with a double, three RBI and two runs scored as the Rattlers cruised to a 9-0 win. He had his second straight perfect game on Saturday, going 3-for-3 with a double. For the season he is batting .327 with seven doubles, two triples, 17 RBI and 23 runs scored. He has 10 games with two or more hits this season.
The honors marked the eighth and ninth times this season that a Rattler has been named Heartland Conference Player of the Week. Jonathon Cisneros (So., San Antonio), Jonathon Rosfeld (Fr., San Antonio) and David Vaio (Jr., San Antonio) have been named Heartland Conference Hitter of the Week previously, while Tyler Cales (Jr., San Antonio) and Braxton Watson (Jr., Spring) have been named Heartland Pitcher of the Week this season.
St. Mary’s is currently 32-16 overall and 28-12 in Heartland Conference play. The Rattlers will return to action on Friday when they host Lincoln University in the final home series of the season, starting at 2 p.m. at V.J. Keefe Memorial Stadium.