Mendoza named AAC baseball Player of the Week

BARBOURVILLE, Ky. - Angel Mendoza's rise to the top of the NAIA's home run leaderboard has earned the Union College senior catcher awards recognition.

After a dominant week at the plate, Mendoza was named Appalachian Athletic Conference Baseball Player of the Week, the league announced Monday afternoon.

In six games against Kentucky Christian and Columbia International, Mendoza hit five home runs, had eight RBIs and at one point reached safely in 13 consecutive at-bats. Entering Monday, Mendoza had 13 home runs, tying him with Cole Turney of Cumberland (Tenn.) for the most in the NAIA.

He is currently on pace to break Rick White's single-season record of 23 home runs, a mark set in 2002.

Mendoza is also second in the country in both slugging percentage (1.094) and on-base percentage (.604), and his .438 batting average is third-best in the AAC. He has been the catalyst for a rejuvenated Bulldog offense that currently ranks third in the AAC in runs scored (182) and home runs (30) and has the Bulldogs sitting in third-place in league standings with a 6-2 record.

Union, which is 15-5-1 overall, returns to the field at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday for an in-state, non-conference road matchup with Midway. The game was originally scheduled for Tuesday, but was pushed back due to weather concerns.