COLORADO SPRINGS -- Both Ryan Chambers and Josh Barrett of BYU were named Mountain West Conference Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, for their performances against New Mexico and Colorado State-Pueblo.
Chambers, a 6-0, 165 senior from Yucaipa, Calif., got out of a slump last week as his slugging percentage for the week was 1.095. He hit the game-tying homer in the ninth inning of the final game at New Mexico, a 428-foot blast. The night before his double was one of seven in the ninth inning and it went off the 428 sign when he was one of two players to hit a pair of doubles in that inning.
In addition, Chambers got his first save of the season on the mound in the 7-5 victory against CSU-Pueblo in one and a third innings. His two-run homer in the third inning of that CSU-Pueblo game proved to be the difference.
Barrett, a 6-1, 170 sophomore from Pleasant View, Utah, was highly effective as a reliever in crucial league games at UNM. He picked up a save in BYU's 19-6 victory, coming into the game before BYU's bats exploded in the 12-run ninth. In the eighth inning of that game with two out and the bases loaded he struck out UNM's batter.
In Saturday's finale against the Lobos, he surrendered no hits while striking out four batters in three innings of work, entering the game to start the bottom of the ninth after BYU had just tied the score at 3-3.
The Cougars, 13-5-1 overall and 2-1 in the MWC, host Utah Valley State on Tuesday at 7 p.m., before starting a three-game series in Provo on Thursday against the University of Utah.