NAPERVILLE, Ill. – North Central’s Michael Mateja and Wheaton’s Michael McCraith were named the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Baseball Players of the Week on Tuesday.
 
Mateja, a sophomore third baseman from Bourbonnais, Illinois and Bradley-Bourbonnais High School (Accounting major), batted .467 (14-for-30) with 10 runs, five doubles, two home runs, eight RBI and an .833 slugging percentage for the 6-1 Cardinals last week. He’s also reached base in 31-straight games dating back to March 20. He was 1-for-5 with a run, two RBI and a home run against Millikin on May 2 and followed with a 2-for-4 performance with one run, one RBI and two walks in a 12-0 win at Illinois Wesleyan on May 3. Mateja finished a combined 4-for-8 with four runs, three RBI, two doubles, one home run and two walks in a 10-6, 11-3 double header sweep at Elmhurst on May 5, followed by a combined 5-for-9 performance with two runs, two RBI and two doubles in a 3-1, 11-7 double header sweep at Carthage on May 6. He was 2-for-4 with two runs and one double in a 5-2 win over Wheaton on May 8, which clinched the Cardinals their third-straight CCIW title.
 
McCraith, a sophomore pitcher from Evans, Georgia and Westminster Schools of Augusta (Political Science major), won his second CCIW Pitcher of the Week honors of the 2017 season on Tuesday. He pitched seven innings, gave up four hits, one walk and struck out nine batters in a 3-0 shutout of Illinois Wesleyan on May 6, completing a season sweep of the Titans.
 
2017 CCIW Baseball Players of the Week
 
Hitter
Michael Mateja – North Central (5/9/17)
Mason Bruce – Millikin (5/2/17)
A.J. Compton – Elmhurst (4/25/17)
Ryan Hetherington – Carroll (4/18/17)
Pat Mollo – Illinois Wesleyan (4/10/17)
Nick Sotiros – North Central (4/4/17)
Matt Rave – Carthage (3/28/17)
Julian Gutierrez – Millikin (3/21/17)
Nick Mailman – Wheaton (3/14/17)
Garrett Shea – Illinois Wesleyan (3/7/17)
Mason Bruce – Millikin (2/28/17)
 
Pitcher
Michael McCraith – Wheaton (5/9/17)
Max Paolicchi – Millikin (5/2/17)
Evan Blunk – North Central (4/25/17)
Michael McCraith – Wheaton (4/18/17)
Tim Sulik – Carthage (4/10/17)
Kevin Tibor – Carthage (4/4/17)
Austin MacMillan – Elmhurst (3/28/17)
Daniel Bayer – Wheaton (3/21/17)
Christian Bolhuis – Wheaton (3/14/17)
Zach Colangelo – North Park (3/7/17)
Kyle McGinley – Augustana (2/28/17)
 
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The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) was founded in 1946 and currently services nine member institutions including Augustana College (Rock Island, IL), Carroll University (Waukesha, WI), 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 2015-16 academic year, the CCIW honored over 1,600 academic all-conference recipients, 14 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, 36 CoSIDA Academic All-District recipients and over 100 all-Americans.