D3baseball.com Selects Del Prado at First Base on Team of the Week

By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director

SALEM, Ore. -- Willamette University sophomore first baseman Eric Del Prado (El Segundo, CA/Loyola HS) has been named to the D3baseball.com Team of the Week for his efforts in a three-game Northwest Conference series against University of Puget Sound on Saturday, March 12 and Sunday, March 13.

Del Prado batted .600 against the Loggers, as he went 6 for 10 with a double, two home runs and two walks. He recorded a 1.300 slugging percentage and a .692 on-base percentage. He scored at least one run in all three games.

In Willamette's 8-4 win in the second game, Del Prado was 2 for 3 with a double and a home run, plus two runs scored and three RBIs. In the final game of the series, he went 4 for 5 with a two-run homer, while scoring once and earning four RBIs. On defense, he recorded 23 putouts and three assists with no errors for a 1.000 fielding percentage.

Willamette won one of the three games. Puget Sound defeated the Bearcats 14-4 in the series opener on Saturday. The Bearcats rebounded in the first game on Sunday to tie the series. In the third game, Puget Sound outscored Willamette, 8-6.

Del Prado's big weekend moved him to the top of Willamette's offensive chart for the season. His leads the Bearcats with a .348 batting average and 16 RBIs.

The Bearcats are set to play another NWC series this weekend. They will take on Lewis & Clark College in a doubleheader on Saturday, March 19 in Portland, Oregon, with first pitch set for 12 p.m. (PDT). Willamette and the Pioneers will complete the series with one game on Sunday, March 20 at 12 p.m.

WU and L&C have met once this season in a non-conference game. Willamette defeated the Pioneers, 8-3, at Ron Tonkin Field in Hillsboro, Oregon, on Sunday, February 7.