Pac-12 Announces Baseball Players of the Week

SAN FRANCISCO - The Conference office announced today AJ Ramirez of USC was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week and Nathan Bannister of ARIZONA was tabbed Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week for the action during the week of April 4-10.

Ramirez (Phoenix, Ariz.) was on fire this past week at the plate while the Trojans went 3-1, including a series victory over first-place Utah. Ramirez batted .538 (7-for-13) with five RBIs and two home runs. He had at least one hit in every game, with two multi-hit outings. First, he was 1-for-3 with 1 run scored as the Trojans defeated Pepperdine 6-5 in 10 innings on Tuesday. Then against Utah, he was 6-for-10 with 5 RBI, including two home runs. The first home run came on Friday as the Trojans won 5-2, with his solo home run in the 2nd inning tying the game up at 1-1. After driving in one run on Saturday in the Trojans’ 6-1 victory, he followed up on Sunday with an impressive 3-for-3 day at the plate, including a two-run home run. He is now tied for the team lead in home runs (5), and saw his season batting average jump 23 points to .370 so far on the year. This is Ramirez's second-career weekly honor and the 61st all-time for the Trojans.

Bannister (Peoria, Ariz.) dominated at Hi Corbett Field on Friday night. The senior right-hander tossed eight scoreless innings against Washington State, scattering just three hits. He walked three and struck out a season-high seven. His innings pitched (eight), strikeouts (seven) and pitches thrown (130) all marked season highs for the senior. Bannister’s only danger came in the first inning. Washington State loaded the bases in the top of the first with no outs, but Bannister was able to get a pair of strikeouts and a groundout to escape the jam. He cruised from there and led his team to an 8-0 victory. Bannister is now 4-0 with a 0.83 ERA at home this season. His win Friday set the tone for the Wildcats winning the home series this weekend. This is Bannister's first-career honor and the first pitching honor for Arizona since James Farris on February 19, 2013. The weekly accolade is the 52nd all-time for the Wildcats.

USC heads to Pepperdine for a mid-week matchup on Tuesday and then head to Oregon for a three-game series on April 15-17. Arizona heads to Tempe for a mid-week non-conference game against Arizona State then hosts Stanford for a three-game series in which the second and third games on April 16 and 17 will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks. The Pac-12 Networks full television information can be found here.

ALSO NOMINATED
Player: Austin Grebeck, ORE; Christian Donahue, OSU; Alex Dunlap, STAN; John Naff, WASH.
Pitcher:  Eder Erives, ASU; Matt Krook, ORE; Luke Heimlich, OSU; Joe Navilhon, USC; Troy Rallings, WASH.

2015-16 PAC-12 PLAYER AND PITCHER OF THE WEEK