Jake Sanford

Western Kentucky’s Jake Sanford, who went 12-for-20 over the past week with five home runs with eight runs scored and 15 batted in, became the third player in Conference USA history to earn back-to-back Hitter of the Week honors, the league announced Monday.

The Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, native had a .600/.636/1.400 slash line for the week, helping the Hilltoppers go 3-0-1, pushing their overall mark to 14-11-1 and hold at second-place in the C-USA standings with a record of 7-1-1. It is WKU’s best start in league action since beginning with an 8-1 record in the Sun Belt Conference in 2009.

In Tuesday’s 12-9 victory at Eastern Kentucky, Sanford went 3-for-6 with three home runs, eight RBIs and four runs scored. He became the first WKU player to hit three home runs in a game since Jordan Newton in 2006, and only the fourth C-USA hitter to do so since 2010. His eight runs batted in were the most by a Hilltopper since at least 2005 (when game-by-game records are available) and tied for the fifth-most in C-USA history.

Sanford continued his tear over the weekend, going 9-for-14 against Charlotte – including back-to-back four-hit games to cap the series – with two home runs, seven runs batted in and four runs scored.

For the season, Sanford leads C-USA hitters in multiple offensive categories with 14 home runs, 24 extra-base hits, 42 RBIs, 33 runs scored, 93 total bases and an .886 slugging percentage to lead all C-USA hitters. In nine league games, He tops C-USA with a .462 batting average, six homers, 19 RBIs, 14 runs scored, 38 total bases and a .974 slugging percentage.

Across Division I, his 14 HRs rank second, 42 RBIs are tied for fourth and 33 runs scored are tied for 16th, while his 93 total bases and .886 slugging percentage stand third overall.

It is the eighth C-USA Hitter of the Week honor by a Hilltopper over the past five years, as Sanford becomes the second WKU player (joining Anderson Miller in 2015) to win it twice in the same season.{&end}