Augustana Sweeps CCIW Baseball Player of the Week Honors

Hopson	Engle

NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- Aaron Hopson and Brandon Engle of Augustana earned baseball player of the week honors in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) Tuesday after their performances during the previous week of competition.

Hopson, a sophomore outfielder from Rockford, Ill., and Rockford Boyland High School, came back from Augustana’s Florida trip with
a .650 (13-20) batting average while scoring 10 runs with three
doubles, two triples, two home runs and 14 RBI. He walked once and recorded a stolen base. He has a slugging percentage of 1.30 and fielded five chances cleanly in the outfield. He had four consecutive three hit games and in an 18-3 win over Husson on March 2, he had a double, triple and home run (no single) with five RBI. In a double header sweep of Gettysburg (13-7; 11-3) on March 6, he went six-for-six with four runs scored, six RBI, two doubles and a home run.

Engle, a senior right-handed pitcher from Moline, Ill., and Moline High School, posted a pair of strong outings in Florida for Augustana. He worked a complete game (seven innings) in the second game of a double header against Widener on March 1, winning 8-0. He gave up just five hits while striking out four and walking just one. On March 6 against Gettysburg, he worked six innings in an 11-3 victory. In that game he gave up three runs on five hits with four strikeouts and two base-on-balls. For the week, he posted an earned run average of 2.08 with three earned runs in 13 innings while striking out eight and walking just three. Opposing hitters are batting just .213 (10 hits in 47 at-bats) against Engle, who came off rotator cuff surgery last June.

2008 CCIW Baseball Players of the Week

Hitter of the Week
Aaron Hopson - Augustana (3/11/08)

Pitcher of the Week
Brandon Engle - Augustana (3/11/08)