April 5, 2010

SAN BRUNO, Calif. - Sophomore Ryan Hawthorne was named WCC Player of the Week, it was announced by the conference office on Monday. The native of Granada Hills, Calif. guided LMU to a 1-1 record last week, including a midweek victory over Cal Poly on Wednesday. The Player of the Week selection is the third this year for the Lions, as junior Jonathan Johnson took home the honor on March 9 and sophomore Matt Koch earned the selection on March 22. For Hawthorne, the selection is the first of his career.

Although the Lions played only two games last week and finished with a 1-1 record, Hawthorne hit .571 with a run scored, a double and a RBI. He also drew a pair of walks and stole a base. Hawthorne collected two of hits and a walk in each of the two games last week. LMU fell to USC on Tuesday at home by a count of 9-7 before defeating Cal Poly on Wednesday, 7-5.

Hawthorne has been on an offensive tear as of late, including a 15-game hitting streak that he carries into the midweek game against UC Santa Barbara tomorrow. The left-handed hitter is currently batting a team-best .356 with nine runs scored, eight doubles, a home run, six walks, a hit-by-pitch and 14 RBI. His slugging percentage sits at .483 and his on-base percentage is .400. After batting .091 through his first three games, and .211 through his first five, Hawthorne has batted .397 since March 5, a span of 18 games. In addition, since taking over in the third spot in the Lion batting order on March 12 at Cal State Northridge, he has batted .400 with eight runs scored, six doubles, a home run and 10 RBI over 15 games. Hawthorne has collected a team-high tying nine multiple-hit games and four multiple-RBI games, including a 4-for-4 day at the plate against Cal State Northridge on March 12 in which he finished with a run scored, a double and two RBI.

LMU returns to the field tomorrow when it visits UC Santa Barbara at 2 p.m. at UCSB's Caesar Uyesaka Stadium.