Baseball Newsletter (4/22/15)

NAPERVILLE, Ill. – North Central’s Bobby Smith and Ben Krusen were named the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Baseball Players of the Week on Tuesday.

Smith, a junior outfielder from Oswego, Illinois and Oswego East High School (Exercise Science major), hit .579 (11-for-19) with four runs, three doubles, one triple, nine RBI and an .842 slugging percentage for the 5-0 Cardinals last week. He helped lead North Central to a three-game series sweep against Elmhurst this weekend, which put the Cardinals in first place in the CCIW standings. He finished 2-for-4 with a run and two RBI in a 9-0 shutout of the Bluejays in game one of a double header on April 18, followed by a 3-for-4 performance with a run and an RBI in an 8-1 win in game two. In the series finale on April 19, Smith was 2-for-3 with a run and two RBI in a 6-2 win.

Krusen, a senior pitcher from Glen Ellyn, Illinois and Glenbard West High School (Sport Management major), tossed a complete-game, three-hit shutout in North Central’s 9-0 win over Elmhurst on April 18. He struck out 11 batters, walked two and held the Bluejays to a .097 batting average.

2015 CCIW Baseball Players of the Week

Hitter
Bobby Smith – North Central (4/21/15)
Kyle Mellinger – Wheaton (4/14/15)
Johnny Peltz – Wheaton (4/7/15)
Jarrod Juskiewicz – Illinois Wesleyan (3/31/15)
Brandon Kressner – Elmhurst (3/24/15)
Zach Tsiodras – Elmhurst (3/17/15)
Chris Hill – North Central (3/10/15)
Brandon Jasper – Augustana (3/3/15)
Peter Newman – Wheaton (2/24/15)

Pitcher
Ben Krusen – North Central (4/21/15)
Daniel Bayer – Wheaton (4/14/15)
Kenny Blanchard – North Park (4/7/15)
John Munyon – Illinois Wesleyan (3/31/15)
Bryan Polowy – North Central (3/24/15)
Seth Davis – Augustana (3/17/15)
Alex Vannucci – North Park (3/10/15)
Seth Davis – Augustana (3/3/15)
Seth Davis – Augustana (2/24/15)

Twitter & Instagram: @CCIW_Athletics

The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) was founded in 1946 and currently services eight member institutions including Augustana College (Rock Island, IL), Carthage College (Kenosha, WI), Elmhurst College (Elmhurst, IL), Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington, IL), Millikin University (Decatur, IL), North Central College (Naperville, IL), North Park University (Chicago, IL) and Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL). During the 2013-14 academic year, the CCIW honored over 1,400 academic all-conference recipients, 14 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, 33 CoSIDA Academic All-District recipients and 87 all-Americans.