Jepsen Chosen NWC Baseball Pitcher Student-Athlete of the Week

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

SALEM, ORE. -- Willamette University freshman Matt Jepsen (LHP, Fallbrook, CA/Fallbrook HS) has been selected as the Northwest Conference Baseball Pitcher Student-Athlete of the Week for his seven innings of scoreless relief in the Bearcats' 5-1 victory over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Saturday, Feb. 8.

Jepsen entered the game for his first collegiate appearance at the start of the third inning with Willamette holding a 2-1 lead. He pitched the final seven innings and struck out six batters. He allowed just two walks and only two hits -- one single and one double.

He faced just 23 batters and held CMS to a .087 team batting average on his way to recording the pitching victory. Willamette provided two insurance runs in the fourth inning and tacked on one run in the seventh. Jepsen's record went to 1-0 on the season.

Willamette's win on Saturday allowed the Bearcats to split the doubleheader. WU also split the four-game series.

The Bearcats won the first game, 16-7, on Friday, but lost the first half of Saturday's doubleheader, 8-7, before gaining a split behind Jepsen's strong performance. CMS took the final game of the series, 11-6, on Sunday.

Willamette, 2-2 overall, will take on Lewis & Clark College in three non-conference games on the artificial turf field at Wilsonville High School (Ore.) this weekend. The Bearcats and Pioneers will play a doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 15, starting at 11 a.m. (PST). The teams will play the third game on Sunday, Feb. 16, starting at 1 p.m.