April 5, 2010
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - San Diego State senior Mitch Blackburn and freshman Ethan Miller have been named Mountain West Conference Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively. This is the first career weekly honor for both Blackburn and Miller.
Blackburn hit .417 (10-for-24) with seven runs scored, four runs batted in, two home runs, one triple and two walks for the Aztecs last week. The Temecula, Calif., native entered the week hitting .261 on the season and hit safely in all five games to raise his average 34 points (.295). He combined for a 5-for-10 effort at the plate in a two-game midweek series against Stony Brook, adding three runs scored, two RBI, a triple and two walks.
In San Diego State's Mountain West series against nationally-ranked TCU over the weekend, Blackburn went 5-for-14 during the three-game stretch, homering twice and scoring four runs while collecting two RBI. His homers came in consecutive at-bats in the second game of the series with the first going to left field and the second going to right. For the week, he compiled a .750 slugging percentage and a .444 on-base percentage. Defensively, he tallied 11 putouts and 18 assists with only one error while splitting time between the second base and shortstop positions.
Blackburn is the first San Diego State player to earn conference Player of the Week honors since Garett Green captured the award in March 2008.
In only his second collegiate start, Ethan Miller shut out nationally-ranked TCU for seven innings in San Diego State's 3-1 win over the Horned Frogs in the series finale on Sunday. The Chino Hills, Calif., native scattered eight hits while striking out three batters and issuing one walk before leaving the game with a 1-0 lead.
Miller becomes the third Aztec hurler to win the weekly honor this season after Addison Reed picked up the accolade on March one and teammate Bryan Crabb was named Pitcher of the Week on two occasions (March 8 and 22). Including this week, SDSU pitchers have won the award four of the seven times it has been dispensed this season.
San Diego State will next be in action on Tuesday, April 6, when it visits 18th-ranked UC Irvine for a game scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m. (PT)