LACKEY, BALLEZ NAMED RRAC P.O.W.
April 22, 2008

FORT WORTH, TX:  Texas Wesleyan University’s Hayden Lackey and Butch Ballez earned recognition as the Red River Athletic Conference Pitcher and Player of the Week for the period of April 14-20.  Ballez shared his award with UT-Brownsville’s Ryan Macdonald.

Lackey, a senior reliever from Duncanville, TX, made appearances in all four of the Rams’ games last week.  He held the opposition scoreless while striking out five hitters and walking none.  Lackey surrendered four hits in 3.2 innings of work en route to an NAIA record 97th relief appearance of his career.  Texas Wesleyan locked up first place in the RRAC North Division at 14-1 in conference play.

Ballez, a junior second baseman from El Paso, TX, blasted a pair of home runs and accounted for seven RBI in a 3-1 week for the Rams.  He hit a solo homer in a 6-0 win over Southwestern Assemblies of God University (TX) in the middle game of a three-game set.  Ballez followed with a 2-for-2 performance with a round-tripper and four RBI in the series finale, a 14-0 Ram victory.  For the week, he was 6-of-12 hitting with four runs scored, a double and three walks.  His current hitting streak is 11 games.

Macdonald, a junior from Kennet Cook, Nova Scotia, powered the Scorpions to a 2-2 week, including their first two victories against an NCAA Division I opponent.  Macdonald drove in two runs with a triple in the first game of a three-game series against Houston Baptist University (TX) as the Scorpions won, 8-4.  They also won the rubber game of that series, 11-9, behind a 2-for-5 performance from Macdonald. He was 7-for-16 at the plate for the week with four runs scored and six RBIs. UTB closed out the season at 7-4 in conference play and 22-30 overall.

Texas Welseyan returns to action this afternoon with their final home game.  They will host the University of Science & Arts of Oklahoma at 3:00 p.m. at LaGrave Field.