May 3, 2010
SAN BRUNO, Calif. - Former West Coast Conference batting champ and 2010 preseason All-American Tommy Medica hit three homers and collected nine RBI to lead Santa Clara to a win over No. 18 Stanford and a three-game sweep against league rival Gonzaga last week. He was awarded WCC 'Player of the Week' honors, as announced by the league office Monday.
In the road sweep over the Zags, Medica homered twice and doubled. Spanning five games for the week, Medica was 9-for-23 (.391 BA), scored seven runs and totaled 19 bases. Medica leads the league in RBI (47), ranks second in hits (66), stolen bases (12) and total bases (113). He also ranks fourth in runs (42) and fifth in homers (10).
Medica won the 2007 WCC batting title by hitting .373 as a freshman. He has twice been named an All-WCC First Team player (2007 & 2008). He was named a Baseball America Freshman All-American in 2007 and played for the USA National Team in the 2007 Pan-American Games. He was named the WCC 'Player of the Month' in March of 2010 after hitting .403 (31-for-77) and reaching safely in all 17 games during the month.
Other WCC honors this week:
Jonathan Johnson, Loyola Marymount, Jr. - WCC co-Player of the Week
Junior Jonathan Johnson batted .600 (9-for-15) with six runs scored, a double, two triples, three walks and four RBI. He also collected a sacrifice fly and a stolen base while slugging .933 and reaching at a .650 clip. In the three-game series against Saint Mary's alone, Johnson batted .677 (8-for-12) with a double, two triples, six runs scored, two walks and four RBI. He slugged 1.083 and reached at a .667 clip. In Friday's game against Saint Mary's, Johnson nearly completed the cycle, as the first of his two triples in that game hit off the top of the wall in straight-away centerfield. He finished the game 4-for-4 with four runs scored, three RBI, a walk, a sacrifice fly, a double and two triples. The native of Lakewood, Calif. then collected a pair of hits on Saturday and Sunday.
Also Nominated: Matt Mardesich (Portland), James Meador (San Diego)
Martin Viramontes, Loyola Marymount, So. - WCC Pitcher of the Week
Sophomore Martin Viramontes carried a no-hitter through two out in the ninth inning en route to tossing a two-hit shutout against Saint Mary's on Sunday. The Lions provided plenty of offense in the game, scoring 10 runs on 10 hits en route to the 10-0 victory. The two-hitter was the first for the Lion since Daniel Macias tossed a two-hitter against Gonzaga on April 30, 2006. The complete game was the second of the year for LMU, as freshman Aaron Griffin tossed nine against Cal State Fullerton on March 23. Viramontes' complete-game shutout was the first dealt by a Lion since Lee Roberts shutout Santa Clara in a complete-game effort on March 27, 2009. The native of Fresno, Calif. went all nine innings, allowing just the two hits and two walks while striking out a season-best nine batters. He threw 132 pitches en route to the complete-game two-hit shutout. The right-hander retired 15 straight from the fourth inning through the first Gael hit, collected by Ryan Mulligan, with two-out in the ninth.
Also Nominated: A.J. Griffin (San Diego), Kyle Kraus (Portland), Chris Mendoza (Santa Clara)
WCC STANDINGS
#22 San Diego 12-0/26-16
Portland 11-1/30-9
St. Mary's 6-6/15-22
San Francisco 5-6/22-23
Pepperdine 3-5/13-22
Loyola Marymount 3-9/19-22
Santa Clara 4-10/18-23
Gonzaga 2-9/ 14-31
THIS WEEK IN WCC
Pepperdine @ Santa Clara (1)
San Francisco @ Santa Clara (3)
Pepperdine @ St. Mary's (3)
#22 San Diego @ Portland (3)
LMU - off
Gonzaga - off
