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Indiana's Watson and Northwestern's Brauer Earn Weekly Honors
May 16, 2006
Complete Release in PDF Format BIG TEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK Watson carried a .529 average (9-for-17), a .941 slugging percentage and a .571 on-base percentage (all team highs) this past week, as the Hoosiers won four times in five contests and took their first Big Ten series of the season against Illinois. The senior, who earns his first career weekly honor, kicked off the week with a 2-for-4 effort, a career-high four RBI, two runs scored and one steal at Valparaiso. Three of those RBI came on an inside-the-park home run, the first inside-the-parker of his career, his second home run of the season and his sixth at IU. He then carded three hits in the series-opening victory over Illinois and capped the doubleheader off with two hits and two runs, giving him 19 multi-hit games and a team-best 11 multi-run contests. With two steals during the week, Watson moved into eighth on IU's single-season steal list (32) and is two spots out of third on the all-time charts (86). BIG TEN PITCHER OF THE WEEK Brauer earns his second-straight Big Ten weekly nod after having already earned Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week honors from Collegiate Baseball on Monday. The NU junior highlighted his week against Michigan State with the Wildcats' first no-hitter since 1999 in a 7-0 win over the Spartans -- a team that entered the series second in the league in hitting. Brauer allowed only two runners to reach base, one of which struck out but made it safely to first on a passed ball by the catcher. He fanned eight and walked one to extend his scoreless inning streak to 14 innings (two complete game shutouts). He threw 99 pitches (69 strikes) in his sixth complete game of the season and lowered his conference ERA to 2.17. He also leads the Big Ten (all games) with 85 strikeouts in 77.2 innings pitched.
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