May 14, 2012

MILWAUKEE - Senior Paul Hoenecke and junior Eric Semmelhack have been named the Horizon League Batter and Pitcher of the Week, the league office announced this morning.

The award is the second of the season for Hoenecke and the third of his career. For Semmelhack, the award is a career-first. It marks the sixth and seventh time UWM players have been honored this season (Cale Tassi three times; Sam Koenig).

Hoenecke picked up Batter of the Week accolades after batting .588 in Milwaukee's 4-0 week. He started out the week with a 2-for-2 performance, including a home run, in UWM's 6-4 win over Northwestern. The senior scored three runs and had three RBIs in the contest that was played at Miller Park, the home of MLB's Milwaukee Brewers.

In the Panthers sweep of Butler over the weekend, Hoenecke was 8-of-15 in helping the Panthers clinch the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Horizon League tournament. He was 3-for-5 with three RBIs in UWM's win on Saturday and he was 4-for-5 with two RBIs and three runs scored in Milwaukee's come-from-behind win on Sunday.

Hoenecke finished the week with 10 hits in 17 at-bats. The senior first baseman/catcher had four doubles and one home run. He scored nine runs and drove in eight more for a UWM offense that scored 40 runs in its four games last week.

Semmelhack picked up Pitcher of the Week honors after pitching seven shutout innings Friday night against Butler. He allowed just three hits while holding the Bulldog batters to a .130 hitting average. He struck out eight and walked just two batters. In his seven innings of work, he allowed only one Butler played to reach second base and that came in the sixth inning with two outs.

The Panthers close out the regular season schedule at home this week, starting with a game against Northern Illinois Tuesday at 4 p.m.