Wright State's Hibberd and Kopilchack Named Baseball Players of the Week

INDIANAPOLIS – Wright State senior Jake Hibberd and junior Cody Kopilchack have been named Horizon League Baseball Players of the Week for the period of March 12-18.

Hibberd picked up Batter of the Week accolades after hitting .500 in Wright State’s four games last week. He started the week by going 1-for-4 in WSU’s game at Kentucky. In Wright State’s three-game conference-opening series against UIC, Hibberd batted .571 (8-of-14) hitting one home run, driving in six runs and scoring four himself. In Friday’s 5-1 loss to the Flames, Hibberd went 3-for-5 and scored WSU’s only run of the game. In the Raiders’ 8-0 win on Saturday, Hibberd batted 2-for-3, scoring one run and driving in another. In the series-clinching win on Sunday, the Raiders were behind 7-6 in the bottom of the seventh inning when Hibberd hit a grand slam to give WSU a lead it would never relinquish.

Hibberd has steadily climbed the conference hitting lists this season and now ranks in the top-10 in the League in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage and RBIs.

Kopilchack notched the Pitcher of the Week honor after pitching seven shutout innings in Wright State’s bounce back win over UIC on Saturday. Kopilchack gave up only four hits and struck out four. He improves to 2-2 on the season and ranks third in the League in ERA (3.33) and leads the conference in opponent’s batting average (.196).

Other Horizon League top performers (March 12-18)

Chris Manning, Valparaiso, So., OF – Manning hit .455 in Valparaiso’s five games last week. He had four multi-hit games, including two three-hit games in the three-game series against Butler. He was a home run shy of the cycle in Sunday’s series finale against Butler.

Drew Dosch, Youngstown State, So., 3B – Dosch hit .563 last week, including batting .643 in YSU’s three-game series against Milwaukee. Dosch was 5-for-6 on Sunday against UWM and scored the game-winning run for the Panthers.

Will Fadness, Milwaukee, Jr., C –Fadness batted .44 at the plate last week to lead the Panthers to a series win over Youngstown State. He slugged .667 for the weekend and posted a .615 on-base percentage.

Jimmy Risi, Butler, Jr., 1B – Risi hit .385 last weekend while helping Butler win its three-game series against Valparaiso. He slugged .923 for the week and had a .500 on-base percentage. On Sunday in Butler’s series-clinching victory, Risi was 3-for-4 with a home run and double, drove in three runs and scored three himself.

Cale Tassi, Milwaukee, Jr., RHP – Tassi helped Milwaukee clinch the series with 7.1 strong innings of work in Milwaukee’s win over Youngstown State on Saturday. He gave up zero earned runs, while only allowing three hits and striking out there. YSU hit a batting average of .125 against him.

Joey Begel, UIC, Jr, RHP –Begel was the winning pitcher in UIC’s series-opening win over Wright State on Friday. He pitched 7.0 innings scattering eight hits and giving up just one earned run, while striking out three.

Nic Manuppelli, Youngstown State, So., RHP – Manuppelli allowed just one hit in 3.2 innings of relief work in two appearances against Milwaukee. He struck out two in one inning of work on Friday. In YSU’s win on Sunday, he struck out three in 2.2 innings.

Chase Byerly, Butler, Jr., RHP – Byerly made three relief appearances last week for the Bulldogs. For the week, he pitched 5.1 innings, giving up one earned run and five hits while striking out three. He earned the win in Butler’s 5-4 10-inning win over Valparaiso on Friday, pitching 3.1 innings of shutout ball. He finished Butler’s series-clinching win over Valparaiso with a 1-2-3 ninth inning in a non-save situation.