The Team of the Week is D3baseball.com's weekly honor roll, in its tenth season of recognizing the top performers at each of nine positions from the previous week. Players are selected from nominations from their school's sports information directors. This is the first Team of the Week of the 2021 season.
Games of February 1-28, 2021
C Chris Penna, Jr., Rhodes
Penna slashed .583/.677/1.083 to start the season behind the plate for Rhodes. He scored 13 runs and drove in 13 on six extra-base hits (three doubles, three home runs) in February. He walked seven times in his 31 plate appearances.
1B Brenden Duncan, Jr., Whitworth
Duncan was responsible for 37% of his teams runs (three runs, four RBIs) as the Pirates opened their season last weekend. He batted .538 (7-for-13) in three losses. He hit four doubles and a home run as he slugged 1.077.
2B Mike Lavigne, Fr., Linfield
Lavigne had a super start to his Wildcat career as he batted .545 on six hits that included two doubles for a .727 slugging percentage. He scored once and walked three times out of the second spot in the lineup.
SS Thomas Miller, Sr., Adrian
Miller set the tone for the No, 22 Adrian lineup in the leadoff spot with a team-best five runs and three doubles to help the Bulldogs upset No. 16 Birmingham Southern in a 2-1 series win to open their season. He finished with a .308/.400/.538 slashline.
3B James Powers, So., Anna Maria
This weekend marked the first game for the AMCATS against a tough opponent in New England College. Powers made his presence known from the first inning with a missile line drive into the right center gap. He was also responsible for breaking the 6-6 tie in the 6th inning on a no doubter grand slam. Powers was a solid 3-for-5 on the day with a home run, double, and single. He had a team high five RBI's with a .600 batting average and a 1.400 slugging percentage.
OF Nathan Blocher, Fr., Puget Sound
Blocher batted .667 (4-for-6) as the Loggers opened with a 3-0 weekend with Whitworth. He score four and drove in six. With two doubles and a home run, he opened his season with a 1.500 slugging percentage.
OF Connor Lemma, Jr., Pacific Lutheran
Lemma hit .588 (10-for-17) to open the weekend, cranking out 10 hits with four RBIs and three runs scored. With one extra-base hit (home run) he slugged .765.
OF Evan Ranneklev, Jr., Illinois Wesleyan
Ranneklev kicked off the season with an 8-for-10 (.800) effort at the plate in the Titans' doubleheader sweep of Greenville, Feb. He began the season with a 5-for-6 showing in the season opener, driving in one and scoring a run to lead the IWU offense. In game two of the double-dip, Ranneklev finished a homer shy of the cycle, going 3-for-4 with three runs scored, an RBI, a double, and triple, and a walk.
DH Ty Morgan, Jr., Louisiana College
In eight games Morgan went 14-for-26 (.538 average) with 12 RBI and four runs scored. Of his 14 hits, eight went for extra bases (five doubles, triple, two home runs) for a 1.651 slugging percentage. with tree walks and two HBP he reached base at a .613 clip.
SP Sam Carpenter, Sr., Piedmont
The fifth-year senior set the Piedmont career strikeout mark in a 15-1 win over Oglethorpe. Carpenter finished the month 2-1 with 22.1 innings pitched with a 0.40 ERA. He totaled 33 strikeouts against two walks.
SP Quinn Gudaitis, Sr., Illinois Wesleyan
Gudaitis was exceptional on the mound in Illinois Wesleyan's season-opening 12-1 win over Greenville. Gudaitis struck out 10, one off his career-high, while allowing just two hits over six innings of work. He allowed no runs, opening his senior season with a 0.00 ERA.
SP Matt Mulhearn, Sr., Webster
In his 2021 season debut this past Saturday against Wartburg, Mulhearn tossed eight shutout innings and recorded a career-high 14 strikeouts and didn't walk a batter in his 116 pitch outing against the Knights. He allowed just two hits and stuck out two or more in batters in five innings, including striking out the side in the third and fifth innings.
RP Alek Arellano, Sr., East Texas Baptist
Arellano was perfect in his two appearances in February. He allowed no hits and walks in 3.1 innings pitched with five strikeouts for a 13.50 k/9 rate. In the Tigers opener against No. 21 Concordia-Texas last weekend, he came in and shut down a veteran lineup.