Sports News Southwest

Yuma, Arizona - Arizona Western College announced that AWC Baseball player P.J. Jimenez has been named as the ACCAC Division I Baseball Player of the Week for the week ending March 30^th. 

 

Ever since getting an early start on figuring out his 4-year college future this past December-when he signed his official letter of intent to attend Liberty University next fall and play baseball for the Flames next spring-Jimenez has stayed a quiet but consistent force the Matadors this season. P.J.-whose real first name is Phillip-has started all but one of the Matadors’ first 38 games of the season, and has teamed with fellow sophomore middle infielder Giovanni Garcia to become of the conference’s top infield combinations defensively. This past week, however, it wasn’t just Jimenez’s glove that was on display. The native of Yucaipa, California had a pair of hits in each of the Matadors’ four games. On Tuesday in Douglas against 15^th-ranked Cochise, Jimenez was one of the big reasons for the Matadors’ powerful 8-2 win in the second game of the doubleheader, contributing a pair of doubles in 5 at-bats while knocking in 2 runs and scoring twice himself. This past Saturday against Pima at home, Jimenez shined in several different ways. In Game 1, not only did have a pair of singles and score the Matadors’ lone run of the game, he was also directly involved in 4 of the 5 double plays the Matadors pulled off in the seven innings. In Game 2, Jimenez got the team’s offense off and rolling with an RBI single in the first inning, then came back three innings to knock in Garcia with a double. P.J.’s 8-for-15 week at the plate has upped his season batting average to .317. He also leads the team in runs batted in with 17, and is second on the team in hits (40), runs scored (20) and stolen bases (11).