Tuesday, February 27, 2024
by Thomas Lal

PORTLAND, Ore. – After slugging his way to the top of the GNAC home run leaderboard last week, Montana State Billings’ Kaden Kirshenbaum has been named the NCBWA Division II West Region Player of the Week.

The weekly regional honor is the first of Kirshenbaum’s career and comes after a week where he led the conference in batting average (.625), on base percentage (.650) and slugging percentage (1.563) to earn GNAC Player of the Week honors for the second time. Along with his strong averages, the infielder from Federal Way, Wash., blasted four home runs, three doubles and seven RBIs against MSU Denver to help secure the series split for the ‘Jackets.

Kirshenbaum opened last week’s series firing on all cylinders in MSUB’s 25-13 win over the Roadrunners last Friday with a 5-for-5 performance at the plate where he racked up four RBIs and scored four runs courtesy of two home runs, two doubles, a sacrifice fly and a walk. He drove in the second run of the game with a sacrifice fly in the first inning, the only appearance all game where he did not reach base. He followed that up with a solo home run in the top of the fourth inning and a two-run shot in the ninth to help cement the win

In Saturday’s 13-9 victory, Kirshenbaum went 2-for-3 and scored three runs on a double and a walk. He came across home plate for the Yellowjackets’ first run of the game to level the score at 1-1 in the second inning after leading off the frame with this third double of the series. He came around to score again in MUSB’s big six-run fifth inning and drew a walk in the eighth before scoring off a Brock Molenda home run.

After a quiet second half to Saturday’s doubleheader, Kirshenbaum came back with a vengeance to end the series on Sunday with another power-hitting masterclass. He finished the series finale 3-for-4 at the plate with three RBIs and two runs scored after his second multi-home run game of the week. He belted his first homer of the day to left field on a 3-1 count in the top of the third inning to score the Yellowjackets’ fourth run of the frame. He capped off the game with a two-run shot in the ninth inning as MSUB came up just short in its comeback bid.

Kirshenbaum’s selection as the NCBWA West Region Player of the Week is the second such honor for a GNAC athlete this season. Selected by the National Collegiate Baseball Writer’s Association, the West Region honoree recognizes the top player from the GNAC, CCAA and PacWest Conferences. Along with Max Patterson of Chaminade, the West Region Pitcher of the Week, and the seven other regional player and pitcher honorees, Kirshenbaum is now eligible to be selected by the NCBWA as the Division II National Player of the Week.