July 10, 2013
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Five WKU baseball players have been named to All-Star teams in their respective summer leagues, with three players nabbing honors in the Great Lakes League and two being named to the Midwest Collegiate League All-Star team.
The Great Lakes League will play their All-Star Game tonight at Western Hills High School in Cincinnati, Ohio at 5:35 p.m. (CT) while Midwest Collegiate League played July 9 in Whiting, Ind.
Sophomore pitcher Austin Clay and junior outfielder David Simmons earned Great Lakes All-Star nods for the second-straight season after strong showings for the Lexington Hustlers. Both will play for the North Team.
Clay currently ranks second in the league with 26 strikeouts while leading the Hustlers' starting rotation with a 2.05 ERA and a pair of wins in 35 innings of work. He was named the Great Lakes League Pitcher of the Week in the first week of summer action after tossing 8.1 innings of scoreless baseball.
Simmons has been Lexington's leader at the plate for the second-straight season, posting a team-high .333 batting average while driving in seven RBI, five doubles and stealing seven bases in just 14 games.
Sophomore outfielder Matthew Paculan was named to the Great Lakes All-Star team and will represent the South Team after leading the Grand Lake Mariners with 31 hits and a .365 batting average. Paculan's batting average ranks second in the Great Lakes League. He was named the Great Lakes League Player of the Week last week after batting .600, driving in six RBI and scoring four runs in three Mariner wins.
Freshmen Leiff Clarkson and Ty Hogan secured All-Star status in the Midwest Collegiate League after strong starts to their season with the Northwest Indiana Oilmen. Clarkson, an infielder, leads the Oilmen with 30 hits and 24 runs while ranking second on the team with 15 RBI and third with a .316 clip at the plate. He tallied two hits for the South All-Stars in Tuesday's All-Star Game, aiding the South to a 12-4 victory.
Hogan has been productive behind and at the plate as the Oilmen's catcher, hitting .306 and pounding out 15 hits through 16 games played. He appeared in Wednesday's All-Star game as a defensive substitute.
For information on all WKU baseball players in summer league action, CLICK HERE.
