Baseball duo sweeps MAC weekly honors
April 18, 2001
KALAMAZOO -- Two members of the Western Michigan University baseball team were honored by the Mid-American Conference Tuesday (April 17).
Senior outfielder John Toner was named MAC West Division Player of the Week while sophomore pitcher Pat Misch captured MAC West Division Pitcher of the Week accolades. Their selections mark the fourth and fifth times this season that a Bronco has earned the award. Sophomore Shawn Morrison earned pitcher of the week honors March 5 and 12. Toner was player of the week March 12.
Misch and Toner helped the Broncos win three of four games from MAC foe Northern Illinois over the weekend. WMU is 15-18 overall, 7-5 in league play heading into a key four-game series at Eastern Michigan Friday through Sunday (April 20-22).
Misch tossed a three-hit shutout in Western Michigan's 15-0 rout of NIU Saturday. The sophomore lefty did not allow a hit until the sixth inning and allowed just one baserunner through the first 5 1/3 innings. He fanned a career-high 10 batters in improving to 4-2 on the year. In two appearances last week, Misch was 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA and allowed just four hits in 11-1/3 innings. Misch struck out 13 batters while walking just four in that span. He was also credited with the win in WMU's 12-9 victory over Michigan April 11.
Toner powered a Bronco home run explosion last week. Western Michigan went deep 16 times in six games last week, including 13 roundtrippers in four games against Northern Illinois. Toner slugged four homers, hit .375, drove in 10 runs, and compiled a 1.125 slugging percentage in four games versus the Huskies. He has hit a team-leading 11 homers on the year and tops the club in RBI with 33. Toner's 11 home runs rank fourth on the single-season home run list while his 23 career homers place him third in the Bronco record book.
For more information, visit the Broncos on the Web at <www.wmubroncos.com>.
Media contact: Geoff Brown, 616 387-4138, geoffrey.brown@wmich.edu