Kansas City, Mo. — Missouri Southern picked up both the
MIAA Player and Pitcher of the Week today as both Joe Paulino and Payton Walker were honored by the league office today.
Paulino, a 6-0 junior from Springdale, Ark., shares the award for Player of the Week with Fort Hays’ Joe Mapes. Paulino had quite the opening weekend for the Lions in helping Southern to a four-game sweep of Bemidji State. In the second game of a DH against the Beavers, Paulino went 3-5 with three RBIs, a run and two doubles. In the game on Saturday, he went 3-4 with a run, a double and two RBI’s. In the series finale on Sunday, Paulino went 1-3 with a home run and two RBIs. For the week, Paulino hit .583, slugged 1.083, had seven hits, three doubles a home run and three runs scored.
Walker, a 5-11 senior from Carl Junction, pitched a stellar game in the opener for the Lions against Bemidji State. He teamed up and earned a shutout, throwing eight innings in the process. He struck out five and walked just one, allowing just three hits in the game. He allowed just one batter past first base and retired 14 in a row at one point, including 18 of the final 20 he faced (one reached by way of error).
The Lions will be in action tomorrow afternoon as Southern plays host to Northeastern State in a non-conference game. First pitch from Warren Turner Field is slated for 2 pm.