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Roth Named SCIAC AOW

Junior leads Kingsmen to tournament title

Release by Tracy Maple

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Aaron Roth was named the SCIAC Athlete of the Week after being named to the D3baseball.com Team of the Week earlier this spring.

Photo: Tracy Maple

PASADENA, Calif. –Announced today by the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC), Cal Lutheran baseball player Aaron Roth was named the SCIAC Male Athlete of the Week for his performance between April 29-May 5.

As he has done all season, Roth carried Cal Lutheran in every game during its 3-0 march through the Inaugural SCIAC Post Season Tournament as the Kingsmen captured the title and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Playoffs. CLU posted a 24-4 regular season record to win the 10th SCIAC title in school history, marking the first in 12 years.  

Roth was named the tournament MVP after shining over the weekend, pitching 6.1 shutout innings and earning one win and two saves. The junior closer was nearly unhittable, allowing just three base hits while striking out nine without a walk.

In game one of the tournament, Roth pitched the final 3.2 innings for his sixth win of the season. He entered the game to get a ground ball and fly ball to end the seventh and went on to strike out four in a 4-3 victory over Occidental without allowing a walk or a run.

Saturday in the second game of the weekend, the righty came on in relief and pitched the final 1.2 innings, earning his ninth save en route to a 5-2 Cal Lutheran victory over Redlands. He retired four of the first five batters he faced via strike out and got a weak ground ball to second base for the final out of the game.

During the championship game, Roth came out of the bullpen in the ninth inning to hold off a Pomona-Pitzer comeback and held off a ninth inning comeback. He fittingly struck out the final batter of the game, sending his team and the crowd into celebration. With the effort he earned his tenth save of the spring.

Roth becomes the second CLU athlete honored as the SCIAC AOW this spring. He joins Shonna Christianson (April 9) from the Regals softball program.

Cal Lutheran (34-7-1) is currently ranked No. 6 in the America Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) poll that was released today. The Kingsmen will travel to Austin, Tex. for the West Regionals next week with play scheduled for May 15-19 at Concordia University Texas.

Release: SCIAC AOW – May 7
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