Stepan is Selected NWC Baseball Student-Athlete of the Week

By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110

SALEM, ORE. -- Willamette University senior Max Stepan (C/DH, Pueblo, CO/Pueblo County HS) has been named Northwest Conference Baseball Offensive Student-Athlete of the Week for his efforts in games played during the week ending Sunday, Feb. 27. Stepan achieved a .533 batting average with four home runs and three doubles in Willamette's four games in California over the weekend.

Stepan was 8 for 15 at the plate. His seven extra-base hits resulted in 23 total bases and a 1.533 slugging percentage.

Against Pomona-Pitzer, ranked #18 in the NCBWA/D3baseball.com Top 25, he went 3 for 4 at the plate with two doubles, a home run, one run scored and two RBIs. Pomona-Pitzer rallied for a 7-5 win on Saturday, Feb. 26.

On Sunday, Feb. 27 against Occidental College, Stepan led a powerful WU offensive attack as he recorded a 5-for-6 performance at the plate with three home runs and one double. He scored four runs against the Stags to go with six RBIs. Willamette routed Occidental, 17-2 to complete the road trip.

The Bearcats went 2-2 over the weekend. Willamette lost its first game of the trip to 11th-ranked Chapman University, 6-0, on Friday, Feb. 25. WU rebounded with a 4-1 victory over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Saturday, before completing the day with the game at Pomona-Pitzer.

Willamette is 5-3 on the season. The Bearcats will open NWC play with a three-game series at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Ore., this weekend. The series will begin with a doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 5 at 11 a.m. (PST). Willamette and the Pioneers will play the final game of the series on Sunday, March 6 at 1 p.m.