CSUEB's Ryan Kochan Named CCAA Baseball Player of the Week
Ryan Kochan
- April 23, 2015
Cal State East Bay senior Ryan Kochan has been named California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Baseball Player of the Week for Apr. 13-19, the conference office announced Tuesday.
The Pioneer third baseman had a monster weekend on both sides of the ball to lead the Cal State East Bay baseball team to a four-game sweep of Cal State San Bernardino.
Kochan had multiple hits in all four contests, posting a .647 batting average (11-for-17) and an .882 slugging mark. He finished the weekend with eight RBI, four doubles, and five runs scored. He ignited the CSUEB offense throughout the series, but the highlight of the week was Friday's opener, in which he went 4-for-5 with two doubles and drove in five of the team's six runs.
The San Ramon native was also a force at third base, handling 14 defensive chances flawlessly. In the second game of Saturday's doubleheader, he made one of the biggest plays of the series. The Pioneers led 3-2 in the top of the sixth, and Cal State San Bernardino had the bases loaded with two outs. Playing in on the grass, Kochan dove to his left on a hard-hit grounder, scooped it cleanly, and flipped it to second to escape the inning and preserve East Bay's lead.
In Sunday's finale, Kochan helped the Pioneers secure the sweep. Already with two hits in the game, he drew a leadoff walk in the ninth inning and came around to score the tying run before CSUEB walked off with a 6-5 win.
Kochan leads East Bay in batting average (.336), doubles (11), and RBI (29) for the season. The team has won seven of its last nine games heading into this weekend's series at Chico State.