Big West honors Martinez

UC Irvine infielder Jaime Martinez was named the Big West Conference’s Player of the Week in baseball for the week ending April 16.

Martinez hit .500, with six hits in 12 at-bats, during the Anteaters’ three-game series win at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. The senior hit three doubles, drove in two runs and scored two runs. He drove in the only run in a 2-1 loss Thursday, then had three hits in Friday’s 4-3 win. In the series finale, he doubled in a run and scored the eventual game-winner in the 4-1 victory.

It is the second Player of the Week honor for Martinez and the fourth of the year for UCI.

Last week’s performance wasn’t the first time Martinez has hit well at Cal Poly’s Baggett Stadium. During the 2004 season, he went 7 for 13 (.538) for UCI in a three-game sweep at Cal Poly, also earning conference Player of the Week honors. Martinez homered twice, drove in five runs, and scored seven in the series.

Martinez has appeared in all 38 of the Anteaters’ game this season, starting 28 of them. He is third on the team with a .305 batting average, and leads the squad with three homers and 30 RBI.

Martinez extended his hitting streak to seven games with an RBI single in the first inning of Tuesday’s 3-0 shutout of USC.