SSBR College Weekly Awards – Week 8 – Sooner State Baseball Report

The 2025 season is here and so are the weekly SSBR awards. Last year we began bringing attention to individual performances turned in by those on small college (NCAA D2, NAIA, NCCAA) teams and junior colleges.

Each week we send out nomination forms to the head coaches of each team in the various divisions above. We ask them to nominate only 1 position player and 1 pitcher with their stats for the week and any context they feel would help their player. We look at those nominations and choose the player or pitcher in each category that we feel had the best week. Also, each player or pitcher nominated will get recognized even if they don’t win.

This week was a little different as the weather caused havoc on the schedule. Teams played less games or no games at all so the sample sizes were smaller. Also, several weekend series weren’t completed until Monday, so we pushed back the award a day as well.

Without further ado, let’s take a look at the winners for Week 8.

Small College

Player of the Week

Carlos Medina, MACU Evangels

The MACU Evangels have solidified themselves as a top 20 program nationally and the top program in the SAC the last 2 seasons. One of the reasons for that is the play up the middle. Carlos Medina anchors the Evangels at shortstop and is known as one of the best defensive infielders around regardless of levels.

While still holding down the defensive side of things last week, it is what Medina did at the plate that was impressive. In 4 games last week vs Sterling and the series at USAO, Medina came in clutch and led the Evangels to a 3-1 week including a key series win vs USAO. Medina put up numbers usually seen from a corner infielder or an outfielder.

Medina’s line: G 4, .615/.688/1.962 (2.650 OPS), 4 HR, 5 RBI, 2 2B, 2 BB, 5 R

Other nominees:
– Gunnar Hansen, USAO (hit 2 HRs last week to tie the ball game vs MACU)

Pitcher of the Week

Colton Anderson, Rogers State Hillcats

Rogers State has quietly become one of the better stories in the Sooner State this season. The Hillcats have spent time ranked in national polls and they are in thick of the postseason tournament hunt in the always tough MIAA.

A big reason for that is their pitching staff. Colton Anderson showed just that on Saturday when he face the nation’s current #2 team Central Missouri. What Anderson did was absolutely electric leading the Hillcats to a big time win in Claremore

Cullinane’s line: G 1, GS 1, CG, 9 IP, 4 H, ER, 6 K, 114 TP

Other nominees:
– Fabian Hernandez, MACU
– Brian Ereu, USAO

Junior College

Player of the Week

Hunter Ham, Redlands CC Cougars

Redlands has cooled off a bit as a team after a great start. Unfortunately the Cougars lost 3 of 4 to UA Rich Mountain to start Region play, but Hunter Ham did all he could for the Cougars including a 2 HR, 8 RBI game over the weekend.

Ham’ line: G 4, .563/.611/1.186 (1.797 OPS), 3 HR, 12 RBI, 2 2B, BB, HBP, 4 R

Other Nominees:
– Jackson Archambeau, Eastern OK State
– Austin Hailey, Murray State
– Jhett Creel, NOC Enid
– Keypher Contreras, Carl Albert State

Pitcher of the Week

Jakob Holzer, Murray State Aggies

It was only the first weekend of Region play, but Saturday’s double header against NOC Tonkawa felt huge for the Aggies if they wanted to keep pace in the standings. Coming off being swept by the Mavs on Thursday, the Aggies needed to do no worse than a split on Saturday.

After getting a win in the first game, the Aggies found themselves tied with Tonkawa after 5 innings. That’s when they turned to Holzer who pitched 4 innings of 2 hit ball not allowing a run which in turn let the Aggies win the game. Not only was Holzer good for the Aggies, he may just have given the best overall performance of any pitcher to the nation’s leading offense this season in his 2 games vs the Mavs.

Holzer’s line: G 2, 1-0, 8 IP, 4 H, ER, 2 BB, 12 K

Other nominees:
– Grayson Smith, Eastern OK State
– Cale Wetwiska, NOC Enid

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