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Pac-12 announces weekly baseball honors

Mar 18, 2014
WALNUT CREEK, Calif. —  WASHINGTON second baseman Andrew Ely has been named Pac-12 Player of the Week and UCLA left-handed pitcher Grant Watson has been tabbed Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week for Mar. 10-16, the Conference office announced Tuesday.
 
Ely, a junior from Eagle, Idaho, propelled the Huskies to a series win on the first weekend of Conference play, going 4-for-10 (.400) with a slugging percentage of 1.100 and an on-base percentage of .538 as UW took two of three on the road from Arizona State. He capped the weekend by hitting a game-winning 11th-inning home run to give Washington a 4-3 victory on Sunday and secure its first road-series win over ASU since 2004. For the week Ely his a home run, a triple, two doubles, scored four times and drove in two runs. He now owns a team-best .371 batting average on the season, which is good for seventh in the Conference. 
 
This is Ely’s first-career Pac-12 Player of the Week honor and Washington’s 59th all-time selection. 
 
Watson, a Bakersfield, Calif. native, helped the Bruins clinch the series over California on Saturday night in a 3-1 victory, giving up just one run on two hits in eight innings of work to earn his third win of the season. The junior retired 16 straight batters from the end of the second inning to the start of the eighth and allowed just two Cal base runners through the first seven. In his last three starts, Watson has pitched a combined 22 innings of work while posting a 0.82 ERA. Opponents are hitting just .183 against him, ranking seventh in the Pac-12 in that category. With the win, Watson improved his career record as a starter to 21-5. 
 
This marks Watson’s second-career Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week nod, the first one coming during his freshman year in 2012. It is the 66th pitcher honoree overall for the Bruins. 
 
The Huskies host Portland in a Tuesday evening game in Tacoma, Wash. before debuting their brand new Husky Ballpark as they host Arizona for a weekend series. UCLA returns home to welcome Washington State for a three-game Conference series over the weekend. 
 
Also Nominated (Player): Mitchell Tolman, ORE; Michael Conforto, OSU; Christoph Bono, UCLA; Garrett Stubbs, USC; P.J. Jones, WSU.  
 
Also Nominated (Pitcher): Brett Lilek, ASU; Jeff Gold, ORE; Jace Fry, OSU; Wyatt Strahan, USC; Tanner Chleborad, WSU.
 
2014 Pac-12 Players of the Week: Feb. 18 – Michael Conforto, Jr., OF, OSU; Scott Kingery, So., OF, ARIZ; Mar. 4 - Kevin Swick, INF, USC; Mar. 11 Shane Zeile, C, UCLA; Mar. 18 Andrew Ely, 2B, WASH.  
 
2014 Pac-12 Pitchers of the Week: Feb. 18 – Daulton Jefferies, Fr., RHP, CAL; Nick Green, Sr., LHP, UTAH; Mar. 4 - Cody Poteet, RHP, UCLA; Mar. 11 - Jace Fry, LHP, OSU; Mar. 18 - Grant Watson, LHP, UCLA.