SAN RAMON, Calif. - UC San Diego's JD Hearn was named Tuesday as the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Baseball Player of the Week, for the week of April 11-17.
On Wednesday, the junior infielder added National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) West Region Player of the Week distinction.
Hearn (Campbell/Westmont HS), a first-year transfer from UC Santa Barbara, led UCSD to a key three-game series sweep at home against SF State over the weekend.
Hearn started all three contests, with the first two at second base and Sunday's finale at third, hitting .643 (9-for-14) with five runs, two doubles, a triple, four RBI, 13 total bases for a .929 slugging percentage, a .667 on-base percentage, and two stolen bases on two attempts. All were team highs. He lifted his season batting average from .228 to .283, while also fielding all 14 of his defensive chances cleanly.
Hearn had three-hit games in all three one-run decisions, his first three on the year. In both ends of Saturday's doubleheader, he was 3-for-5, with two doubles and a triple making up his haul in game one, when he drove in a season-best three and added a run, walk and steal. He produced an RBI triple in the third and a two-run double in the fourth, his 11th-inning walk of the intentional variety just ahead of an infield error that allowed UCSD to walk off a 6-5 victor. In the nightcap, Hearn scored twice with one RBI, swiping another bag. His two-out, two-strike RBI single knocked in what proved to be the game-winner in the eighth as the Tritons then staved off a four-run Gator rally in the ninth to win, 8-7.
Finally on Sunday, Hearn crossed the plate with UCSD's last two runs, notching leadoff singles in the sixth and eighth before coming around to give the Tritons edges of 2-1 and 3-2. In Saturday's second game, Hearn also provided a defensive gem. Up 7-3 with the bases loaded in the eighth, the second baseman dove to his left, got up and flipped back-hand to first baseman Justin Flatt to end the threat.
In all, Hearn drove in the decider in one game, and scored the winner in another.
Hearn's is the third CCAA Player of the Week nod for UCSD in 2016, with junior teammate Jack Larsen a two-time honoree. He is the second Triton to pick up the NCBWA recognition, with Larsen previously selected on March 1.
Freshman right-hander Tim Nelson (Chino Hills/Ayala HS) was nominated for CCAA Pitcher of the Week after earning two winning decisions in relief over the weekend. At 7-1, he leads the CCAA with seven wins, among his team-leading 17 appearances.
UCSD (26-13, 16-11 CCAA) travels up to Northern California for a third time this week, to Seaside for a three-game series at Cal State Monterey Bay. The Tritons are in second in the South Division, one game back of Cal Poly Pomona. The Otters were swept in a doubleheader at Sonoma State on Monday, and thus dropped from first in the North, to second, half a game back of Chico State.
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