WOOSTER, Ohio — Penn State Altoona baseball’s freshman third baseman Jake Hillard (State College, Pennsylvania/State College) was recognized on a national level for his stellar performance with the bat last week, as the slugger was named the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Division III Rookie of the Week on May 5.
Hillard, the reigning Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Player of the Week, propelled Penn State Altoona to doubleheader sweeps of conference opponents Mount Aloysius College and Hilbert College last week.
In last Tuesday’s doubleheader versus Mount Aloysius, Hillard combined to hit 3-for-7 with four runs batted in, two runs scored, one home run, and one triple. The freshman followed that up by going 6-for-9 with 11 RBI, five runs scored, three home runs, and two doubles in the Lions’ games against Hilbert on Saturday.
On the week, Hillard batted .563 (9-for-16) with 15 RBI, seven runs scored, four home runs, two doubles, and a triple. He finished the week with a .529 on-base percentage, a 1.563 slugging percentage, and 25 total bases.
In the AMCC this season, Hillard currently ranks second among all players in total bases (68), third in slugging percentage (.791), home runs (7), and doubles (11), and seventh in runs scored (25), hits (34), and RBI (27).
Hillard’s award as the Division III Rookie of the Week represents the second time this season that a Penn State Altoona baseball player has garnered national recognition from the NCBWA. Senior first baseman Catcher Cumming was named the NCBWA Division III Hitter of the Week on April 7.
Penn State Altoona finished its regular season with an 11-13 overall record, including a 9-7 mark in the AMCC. The team has the number five seed entering the AMCC Tournament and will travel to play four seed Alfred State College in a first round, best-of-three series starting this Saturday, May 8.
