Rice University Athletics
Kubitza Named C-USA Pitcher of the Week
5/22/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 22, 2011
IRVING, Tex. - For the second time this season Rice freshman Austin Kubitza has been named the Conference USA Pitcher of the Week, the league office announced Sunday (May 22) from its headquarters in Irving, Tex. East Carolina's Jack Reinheimer was named the C-USA Hitter of the Week.
In his only appearance of the week (May 19), Kubitza handcuffed a tenth-ranked Southern Miss squad that was leading the conference in hitting and runs-scored to no runs on five hits over 8.1 innings in a road victory. The right-hander from Colleyville, Tex., struck out nine and did not walk a batter until there was one out in the ninth inning.
Kubitza improved his record to 6-3 on the year while earning his second C-USA Pitcher of the Week honor this season. He was also named Pitcher of the Week on March 7 after throwing a 1-0 shutout over then-No. 9 Texas A&M. Four Owls have earned the C-USA Pitcher/Hitter of the Week honor a total of six times this season. His Rice teammates who have won the weekly award are second baseman Michael Ratterree (May 9 and April 18) and pitchers John Simms (April 18) and Matthew Reckling (Feb. 21) on the respective dates.
ECU's Jack Reinheimer batted a team-best .583 (7-for-12) last week with a .667 on-base percentage in four games for the Pirates.
The Rice baseball team is 38-18 overall and a co-champion in the final C-USA regular season standings with a 16-8 league record. The Owls next play on May 25 at the 2011 Conference USA Championship in Pearl, Miss. The Blue & Gray meet UAB at 12:30 pm at Trustmark Park, the minor league home of the Atlanta Braves' AA affiliate. Pool play continues in the tournament for Rice with 12:30 pm games against Memphis on May 26 and UCF on May 27.
