Figus Wins MCL Player of the Week Award Chicago, Ill. – June 18, 2018 – The Midwest Collegiate League has announced its weekly award winners for the week spanning June 11-17. Northwest Indiana outfielderNick Figus (Illinois Wesleyan / Frankfort, Ill.) has been named MCL Player of the Week, while Southland’s Justin Rios(North Central College) has garnered MCL Pitcher of the Week accolades. Figus led the way for an Oilmen team that rapped off five consecutive victories to close the week, climbing to above the .500 mark for the first time this season. The Oilmen outfielder posted a .381 average this week, going 8-for-21 with three extra-base hits, two walks, three hit by pitches, eight RBIs and five runs scored. The highlight of the week for Figus came on Friday night against his former team, the Bloomington Bobcats. He racked up four hits including his first MCL home run, propelling the Oilmen to an 11-5 victory. Figus also had two hits in Saturday’s 11-3 triumph over first-place DuPage County. Not normally a pitcher, Figus was pressed into duty on the mound against the Hounds and hurled a scoreless inning. For the season, he leads the Oilmen in batting average at .444 and on-base percentage at .583. Rios had plenty of competition within his own team for MCL Pitcher of the Week, as he was one of three Southland Vikings to toss a complete-game shutout this week. Rios edged out his teammates by virtue of his gem coming against first-place DuPage County, as he blanked the Hounds while scattering seven hits, walking just one and striking out six on Sunday. The 5-0 win allowed the Vikings to shrink DuPage County’s MCL lead to just one game. Both the Vikings and Hounds have three losses, but DuPage County has two more victories. Rios was making his first start on the mound this summer and had thrown in just one game (two innings) previously, June 8 against Bloomington. He has not allowed a run and has walked just two in 11 innings of work this season. Rios becomes the second consecutive Viking to win the MCL Pitcher of the Week Award after Gil Loza did so last week. 2018 MCL Players of the Week 2018 MCL Pitchers of the Week |