Kansas City, Mo. - After a stellar outing against Clarke University last Friday, junior ace Nick Merkel was named the Heart Pitcher of the Week, announced by the conference office Monday afternoon.
The Spokane, Wash. native struck out a career-high 14 batters en route to an 18-3 victory over Clarke in the regular season finale series. He scattered seven hits and surrendered just three earned runs through eight innings of work. It marks the first Heart Pitcher of the Week honor for Merkel.
The Eagles won the Heart regular season conference crown with two victories over Clarke. Central has earned the the No. 1 seed in the tourney, and will face the winner of No. 4 Benedictine and No. 5 Peru State Friday, May 7 at 5:00 p.m. in Ozark, Mo.
To view the complete list of this week's Heart Players of the Week, please click here.
#TakeFlight
