MOUNT PLEASANT – Iowa Wesleyan College was well represented in the Midwest Collegiate Conference’s weekly honors announced Monday, as three Tiger athletes received Athlete of the Week honors from the conference.
IWC swept the baseball awards for the week, as Edder Morales (Sr.-Barquisimeto, Venezuela) was named the league’s Baseball Player of the Week and Jansel Encarnacion (Jr.-Azua, Dominican Republic) was named MCC Baseball Pitcher of the Week. In addition, the Tiger softball team was represented in the awards as freshman Ayla Serrano (Rock Island, Ill.) was named MCC Softball Pitcher of the Week.
Morales and Encarnacion both received the award after helping lead the Tiger baseball team to a 5-2 record last week in MCC play. Morales hit .500 last week with 12 hits in 24 at bats, including two home runs and eight runs batted in. He also posted a .792 slugging percentage and extended his hit streak to ten games, helping Wesleyan win series against Clarke College and Mount Mercy College and split a doubleheader against St. Ambrose University.
Encarnacion was dominant last week in winning a pair of games while throwing 14 1/3 scoreless innings. He pitched 5 1/3 innings against St. Ambrose, allowing three hits while striking out six in a 5-0 win over the Bees. He then threw a complete game shutout on Sunday against Mount Mercy, allowing eight hits over nine innings while striking out 11 in a 6-0 win.
Morales continues to lead the Tiger hitters and has been as hot as anyone in the MCC so far this season. The senior is hitting .461 with 47 hits in 102 at bats and has eight doubles, seven home runs and 30 RBIs. He has a .500 on base percentage and has hit safely in 25 of 28 games played.
Encarnacion has reduced his earned run average to 4.93 and is now 3-2 this season. He has allowed 37 hits in 34 2/3 innings and has allowed 19 earned runs while striking out 36 and walking 11. His performances last week helped IWC to improve to 14-15 overall this season and move to 6-2 in MCC play.
Serrano also received conference honors after a big week when she accounted for three of the Tigers’ four wins as the team split eight games. The freshman was 3-0 with a 2.37 ERA, striking out 20 in 19 innings while allowing 11 hits and five earned runs. She pitched a pair of three-hitters, including a three-hit complete game shutout against Clarke College in which she struck out eight. Serrano also pitched a complete game on Saturday against Ashford, allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits while striking out seven, and then came back to throw four innings on Sunday against Viterbo to get the win.
Serrano has been one of the Tigers’ leaders so far this season in both pitching and hitting. She is 4-3 with a 3.35 ERA in nine appearances (seven starts) on the mound and leads the team with 39 strikeouts. At the plate she is hitting .291 with 23 hits, two home runs and nine RBIs while batting in the leadoff spot. She has helped Wesleyan to an 8-14 record early in the year, including a 3-3 mark in conference play so far.
For more information regarding the IWC baseball or softball programs or any of the Tiger athletic teams, contact sports information director Adam Glatczak (319-385-6306 phone; 319-385-6384 FAX; aglatczak@iwc.edu e-mail) or log on to IWC's athletics web site at www.iwc.edu/athletics.
MCC Athletes of the Week release
