April 11, 2011
SAN BRUNO, Calif. - LMU had its hand in both the WCC Player and Pitcher of the Week accolades this week, as junior Jason Wheeler was named WCC Pitcher of the Week and junior Shon Roe earned Co-WCC Player of the Week. The player of the week selection is the fourth of the season for LMU, while Wheeler's Pitcher of the Week selection is the second for the Lions this year.
Wheeler threw a complete-game shutout on Friday as LMU defeated Santa Clara, 3-0. Wheeler threw 127 pitches on Friday, including 83 for strikes en route to the victory. The native of Torrance, Calif. posted a line of nine scoreless innings, allowing seven hits and one walk while striking out six. The lefty retired the final 10 batters he faced in the game. The shutout was the fourth of the year for LMU, including the second complete-game shutout.
Roe batted .429 (6-for-14) over four games last week, collecting at least one hit in all four games. Roe collected six runs scored, a triple, three walks and five RBI. He reached at a .556 clip and slugged .571 while stealing three bases. Roe had three hits, including a triple, with three RBI on Saturday against Santa Clara before posting two more in Sunday's 11-2 victory. The native of Palmdale went 1-for-2 with two walks and two runs scored against USC on Tuesday before going 1-for-2 with two runs scored and one walk to open the three-game series with Santa Clara on Friday. Overall in the series against Santa Clara, Roe batted .417 (5-for-12) with four runs scored, five RBI, a triple, a walk and three stolen bases. He reached at a .500 clip and slugged .583.
LMU allowed just one earned run over a three-game sweep of Santa Clara University to start West Coast Conference play last weekend. After Wheeler's dominant performance, Alex Gillingham also came to play on Saturday, dealing his third complete game of the year as the Lions bested SCU, 7-1. Gillingham needed only 105 pitches to complete the game and improve his record to 5-2. The native of Thousand Oaks, Calif. allowed seven hits and did not walk a batter while surrendering an unearned run in the first inning and striking out four. Sophomore Aaron Griffin allowed just two runs (one earned) over 5.1 innings on Sunday before the Lion bullpen finished the game with 3.2 innings of scoreless relief. The LMU offense came alive on Sunday, pounding out 11 runs on 16 hits, including a 3-for-5 day from senior Jonathan Johnson with a double, a triple, three runs scored and four RBI.
The Lions will return to action when they host No. 8 Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday at 3 p.m.
