Former Hays power hitter Jonathan Gonzales and current Texas A&M-Corpus Christi junior was recently named Southland Conference Hitter of the Week. He has eight homers and 24 runs batted in this season for the Islanders.( photo courtesy of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi)
By JASON GORDON
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi designated hitter Jonathan Gonzales has been named the Southland Conference Hitter of the Week, league officials announced Monday.
Gonzales had an offensive explosion of three home runs and 10 RBI while hitting .500, slugging 1.056 and getting on base exactly half the time in a four-game week that featured games against Sam Houston State and Houston-Victoria.
The junior and former Hays Rebel star started off the week with a 4-for-4 game with two homers and six RBI to lead the Islanders to victory against Houston-Victoria.
On Friday against league-leading Sam Houston State, Gonzales hit a sacrifice fly to increase the Islanders lead to the eventual 5-2 winning margin.
On Saturday, Gonzales added three hits and two RBI on his third home run of the week, while rounding out the weekend series with a two-hit game and another RBI.
Gonzales registered an RBI in each game, and had at least two hits in three of the four games played.
“It felt really great. I’m finally getting in the zone again,” Gonzales, who led the state with 17 home runs as a senior at Hays in 2009, said. “It’s been an up and down season for me personally, but I’m hitting the ball hard now like I’m used to and it really feels good.”
Gonzales is batting .281 this season with eight home runs and 24 runs batted in for the Islanders.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is 18-26 overall this season and is 10-14 in the SLC. The Islanders are currently one game out in the chase to get into the eight-team SLC tournament May 23-26 at Texas State University with nine regular-season games to play.
