IRVING, Texas – Baylor seniors Cal Towey and
Max Garner were named Big 12 Player of the Week and Pitcher of the
Week, respectively, the league announced Monday. Both Bears earned the honor for the first time in their careers.
Anchoring third base flawlessly, Towey paced Baylor
to a 3-1 week by hitting .500 (7-for-14) with 11 total bases, eight
RBI, four runs, three walks, two doubles and a triple while slugging
.786 and posting a .611 on-base percentage. In
a 5-4 comeback win over No. 29 Pepperdine, he went 1-for-4 with two RBI
and reached on an HBP. In a 9-0 win over California, he was 2-for-4
with two RBI, two runs, a triple and walk. Against Houston, he went
1-for-2 with two RBI, a walk, run and double.
In a 9-2 win over No. 12 Rice, he went 3-for-4 with two RBI, a walk,
run and double.
His performances against Cal, UH and Rice came at
the 2013 Astros Foundation College Classic as he was named the
tournament's Most Outstanding Player after going 6-for-10 with six RBI,
four runs, three walks, two doubles and a triple. Along
the way, he extended his career-high streak of games with an RBI to
seven and has multiple RBI in six of his last seven games, and
lengthened his hitting streak to six games and his on-base streaks to
seven games.
Towey has multiple RBI in six of his last seven
games, has six such games this season and 29 in his career, and has
multiple RBI in a career-high four straight games. Over his seven game
RBI streak he is 10-for-22 with 13 RBI, five runs,
five walks, two doubles, a triple, homer and steal.
Garner was outstanding in a 9-2 win against No. 12
Rice at the 2013 Astros Foundation College Classic, earning
All-Tournament honors. In a career-high 8.1-inning start, Garner gave
up only two runs on six hits and three walks with eight
strikeouts to earn his first win of the season. He shutout the Owls
for 8.1 innings before giving up a two-run homer on his last pitch and
leaving with a standing ovation at Minute Maid Park.
In the longest start by a Baylor pitcher this
season, Garner faced trouble in the first and fifth innings but stayed
composed to walk away unscathed both times. With two outs and Byrd on
third in the first, Garner froze Michael Aquino with
a fastball on the outside corner. Then in the fifth after two walks
were aboard, he induced a groundout and got Michael Ratterree swinging
to end it. His 106-pitch effort lowered his season ERA to 2.79 as he has
surrendered just six earned runs in 19.1 innings
with 17 strikeouts.
The last time Baylor swept the Big 12 weekly honors was on Feb. 27, 2012
after Logan Vick and Trent Blank garnered the awards. It's the fourth
time BU has received both distinctions in the same week (March 14, 2011; March 23, 2004).
The Bears return to the diamond tomorrow to begin a two-game set against Louisiana Tech. Tuesday's first pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. CT, while Wednesday's contest will start at 4 p.m.
