The Team of the Week is D3baseball.com's weekly honor roll, honoring performers at each position from the previous week. Players are selected from nominations from their school's sports information directors. This is the fourth Team of the Week of the 2017 season.
Games of Feb 27-March 5, 2017
C Chris Zapata, Jr., Centenary (La.)
Zapata came up big in a pair of Centenary run-ruled wins over Northland with a .635/.667/1.375 slash line. He had five hits, two for home runs, to go along with three runs scored and seven RBIs.
1B Ben Palatino, Fr., Worcester St.
Palatino led the Lancers to a 15-14 victory over Fisher on Thursday as he went 4-for-5 and reached base a fifth time on a walk. He collected four runs (one of which was the game-tying run in the 9th inning) and five RBI on one single, two doubles and a home run in his first collegiate baseball game. He was flawless on defense at first base, registering seven putouts.
2B Tristan Baker, So., Shenandoah
Baker was 6-for-12 (.500) as the Hornets went 3-0 on the week. He scored six runs and knocked in three. He was perfect in the field with 16 chances without an error.
SS Alfred Francis, Sr., Berry
Hitting .786 (11-for-14), Francis led Berry as they posted a 1-3 week. He added two doubles, two walks and one sacrifice fly for the Vikings as well, knocking in four RBIs. He also posted a .929 slugging percentage and added a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage for Berry with 10 putouts and one double play on the week.
3B Eric Hamilton, Sr., Oswego State
In four games over the weekend, Hamilton gathered seven hits, two for extra bases, on 12 plate appearances (.583), scoring eight and driving in three. He also showed off his eye at the plate, garnering four walks over the weekend, netting an on-base percentage of 0.667. Hamilton also was perfect in the field, recording 12 assists and two outputs.
OF Ben Buerkle, Sr., St. Mary's (Minn.)
Buerkle hit safely in all eight of the Cardinals' games this week, batting .704 (19-for-27). He hit five doubles and two home runs for a 1.111 slugging percentage. Buerkle scored 12 runs, drove in six and stole four bases. He became just the second player in program history to reach 200 hits with a third-inning double against Rockford on March 3.
OF Ryan Kelleher, Jr., Bridgewater State
Kellerher batted .688 (11-for-16) with a home run, a double, four runs batted in and six runs scored in four games for the Bears last week. He also recorded a .667 on base percentage and a .938 slugging percentage.
OF Danny Weis, Jr., Loras
Weis hit .778 with runners on base (7-for-9) and .833 with two outs (5-for-6) and .733 (11-for-15) overall. He was directly involved in 11 of Loras' 29 runs scored this weekend, six scored and five driven in.
DH AJ Johnson, Jr., Carroll (Wis.)
Johnson batted .636 (7-for-11) in three games for the Pioneers. He averaged two runs per game and drove in ten on the week. All but one hit went for extra bases as Johnson slugged four doubles and two home runs.
SP Christopher Arcos, So., La Verne
Christopher Arcos fired a seven-inning no-hitter as La Verne routed Claremont-Mudd-Scripps for a 10-0 win in the second game of a doubleheader at Ben Hines Field on Saturday. The Chino Hills native struck out five batters and was perfect in the last five innings of the game after issuing two walks in the first two innings.
SP Matt Davis, Jr., Oglethorpe
Davis earned his third win of the season shutting out Rhodes 10-0. In his 7.0 innings of work, he allowed two hits and just a single free pass. He struckout 12 batters to increase his league leading total to 31.
SP Tommy Parsons, Sr., Adrian
Parsons defeated Transylvania, 3-0, on a two-hitter (pair of singles) with a career high 15 strikeouts in a complete-game shutout. He did not issue a single walk, faced two batters over the minimum and didn't allow a runner to second base.
SP Paul Wetmore, So., Western New England
Wetmore made the most of his first-career start for Western New England on Sunday, as the sophomore right-hander tossed a no-hitter to earn the Golden Bears a doubleheader split with SUNY Old Westbury. Wetmore struck out six and walked four in his seven-inning, complete game performance and became the third Golden Bear in the past 13 seasons to record a no-no.
RP Cody Reister, Sr., Hanover
Reister was 2-0 in three relief appearances this week. The senior entered with two outs in the first inning and threw 7.2 shutout innings against Alma, as Hanover erased an early 8-0 deficit to win 10-8. Reister then threw 3.2 innings against Olivet, allowing just two hits, as he picked up his second win of the year. His third appearance came against Cabrini when he threw a scoreless and hitless inning with a strikeout. The senior pitched 12.1 innings without allowing a run for the week.