Baseball Sweeps NECC Weekly Honors

NEW LONDON, Conn. – Three members of the Mitchell College baseball team were recognized by the New England Collegiate Conference on Monday as the league announced its weekly awards.

Junior Dougie DelaCruz was named NECC Player of the Week while sophomore Eddie Kaftan was tabbed NECC Pitcher of the Week. Freshman Owen Robbins was selected as NECC Rookie of the Week to give the Mariners a clean sweep of the awards. The trio led Mitchell to a 5-1 week in NECC play that included a win over New England College and a four-game sweep against Lesley University.

DelaCruz becomes the third Mitchell player to earn player of the week honors this season, joining Anthony Stigler (March 8) and John-John Jose (March 15). Likewise, Kaftan is the third Mitchell pitcher to earn the distinction, joining Jakari Pellegrini (March 8) and Roland Thivierge (March 29). Robbins is the first Mariner to nab rookie honors this season.

DelaCruz batted .571 with three doubles, three homers and a team-high 20 RBI over the six games, hitting safely and knocking in runs in each game while slugging 1.143 for the week. He hit a grand slam and finished with seven RBI in the win over New England College. He then went 9-for-15 with two doubles, two homers, 12 RBI and nine runs scored in a four-game series against Lesley.

Kaftan made two appearances last week and allowed only one hit over 6.1 scoreless innings. He struck out a season-high seven batters in a five-inning start to pick up his first win of the season against Lesley. He also tossed 1.1 innings of scoreless relief and fanned two in a win over New England College.

Robbins batted .500 with a double and two homers—both grand slams—over five league games last week. The long balls both came against Lesley in a weekend series. He slammed the first in Saturday's second game and finished with a season-high five RBI in the game. He then duplicated the feat less than 24 hours later, clearing the bases with his second homer of the season in Sunday's opener. He slugged 1.375 for the week and finished with 10 RBI.

Mitchell (12-5 overall, 5-1 NECC) will next play at New England College on Wednesday, April 21 at 1 p.m.

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