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MWC Baseball Player and Pitcher of the Week New Mexico's Kevin Atkinson and San Diego State's Stephen Strasburg honored.
April 14, 2008 COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - New Mexico junior Kevin Atkinson and San Diego State sophomore right-hander Stephen Strasburg have been named Mountain West Conference Baseball Player and Pitcher of the Week. Atkinson, a Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, native, led New Mexico to a 4-1 record on the week, including a three-game sweep over conference foe Air Force. On the week, he batted .550 (11-for-20) with four home runs, two doubles, 11 RBI and 10 runs scored. In the second game of a non-conference series vs. Texas Tech, Atkinson went 2-for-3 with two runs scored in UNM's 7-2 victory. In game one vs. Air Force, he hit a two-run homer, helping the Lobos to a 7-1 win. In a 26-9 game two win, Atkinson went 4-for-5 at the plate with two home runs, a triple, four RBI and four runs scored. In the series finale, he turned in another 4-for-5 performance, smashing his fourth home run of the week, while also contributing two doubles, five RBI and two runs scored in UNM's 13-3 victory. Defensively, Atkinson had 51 putouts and three assists from the first base position. Strasburg threw a one-hit, complete-game shutout in San Diego State's 1-0 win over Utah last Friday, setting a new Aztec and Mountain West Conference record with 23 strikeouts. Strasburg struck out the side in the first inning, as well as the fifth through eighth innings. A total of 16 of the final 17 outs he recorded came via the strikeout. The 23 K's ties for the third-most ever in a Division I game nationally and are the most in a game since the 1981 season. Strasburg did not allow a hit until the sixth inning and permitted only three Ute baserunners with none advancing past second base. The Utes, who came into the contest batting .322, hit just .038 on the night.
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