INDIANAPOLIS – A perfect 5-0 week in Florida resulted in Great Midwest Athletic Conference Baseball Players of the Week selections for Kentucky Wesleyan in the West Division as announced on Tuesday.
 
West Division Player of the Week
Joseph Burke
Kentucky Wesleyan
First Base
Jeffersonville, IN (Jeffersonville HS)
 
Burke ate his Wheaties and then some as he went on a power binge against premier programs from the Sunshine State Conference (Florida Tech, Florida Southern, Saint Leo) and the Midwest Region (Saginaw Valley State).
 
The senior slugger blasted four home runs, including three in one game, while going 8-for-19 with nine RBI and eight runs scored during a memorable run.
 
In Wednesday’s game vs. Florida Southern, Burke went yard three times, tying his own conference record (2018 vs. Oakland City). In all, he was 4-for-5 at the plate with six RBI as Kentucky Wesleyan more than doubled up the Mocs by a 17-8 count.
 
In an 8-1 win vs. Saginaw Valley State, he launched a solo shot in his first at-bat of the game to get the offense jolted.
 
Burke had hits in all five games for KWC as the Panthers improved to 7-5 overall.
 
Burke is now batting a team-leading .415 with six homers and 15 RBI. He became the conference’s all-time leader in home runs last year with 37, passing former St. Louis Cardinals draft pick Hunter Newman (TNU).
 
Burke now has 43 home runs to his name in the conference since his career started in 2017.
 
West Division Pitcher of the Week
Alex Franzen
Kentucky Wesleyan
RHP
Senior
Alexandria, KY (Campbell County HS)
 
Two times Franzen has been honored by the coaches as an all-conference selection as a reliever and his move to the starting rotation is paying immediate dividends after handcuffing Florida Tech and Saginaw Valley State.
 
The senior righty touched double-digit strikeout totals for the second time this season, whiffing 13 hitters in a complete game effort vs. Saginaw Valley State. He gave up just one run on four hits and walked a pair.
 
Franzen also had 10 K’s earlier this spring vs. Wayne State – both opponents are from the Midwest Region.
 
He also had the start for a winning decision against Florida Tech to start the perfect week for the Panthers, going 6.2 innings and striking out five in an 8-2 win.
 
Franzen’s 13 punchouts against SVSU are tied for the fourth most in league history; it is the fourth time a pitcher has hit the lucky 13 number – Lake Erie southpaw Evan Layne did it last season.
 
Through four starts, Franzen is 2-1 with a 3.28 ERA. He also has 30 strikeouts in 24.2 IP.