WACO, Texas – Butch Ballez of Texas Wesleyan University and Ryan Macdonald of the University of Texas at Brownsville were selected as the Red River Athletic Conference Baseball Co-Players of the Week, while TWU’s Hayden Lackey stood out as the RRAC Baseball Pitcher of the Week for April 14-20.

Ballez, a junior second baseman from El Paso, Texas, blasted a pair of home runs and accounted for seven RBIs in a 3-1 week for the Rams. He hit a solo homer in a 6-0 win over Southwestern Assemblies of God University (Texas) in the middle game of a three-game set. Ballez followed with a 2-for-2 performance with a round-tripper and four RBIs in the series finale, a 14-0 Ram victory. For the week, he was 6-of-12 hitting with four runs scored, a double and three walks. His current hitting streak is 11 games.

Macdonald, a junior from Kennet Cook, Nova Scotia, powered the Scorpions to a 2-2 week, including their first two victories against an NCAA Division I opponent. He started the week by going 4-for-5 with a pair of RBIs in a 13-8 loss to Texas A&M International University. Macdonald then drove in two runs with a triple in the first game of a three-game series against Houston Baptist University (Texas) as the Scorpions won, 8-4. They also won the rubber game of that series, 11-9, behind a 2-for-5 performance from Macdonald. He was 7-for-16 at the plate for the week with four runs scored and six RBIs. UTB closed out the season at 7-4 in conference play and 22-30 overall.

Lackey, a senior reliever from Duncanville, Texas, made appearances in all four of the Rams’ games last week. He held the opposition scoreless while striking out five hitters and walking none. Lackey surrendered four hits in 3 2/3 innings of work en route to an NAIA record 97^th appearance of his career. TWU locked up first place in the RRAC North Division at 14-1 with a mark of 33-12 on the season.

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