Junior left-handed pitcher Mario Hollands was honored twice again on Wednesday, bringing his weekly tally of awards to five after he tied UCSB’s school record with 16 strikeouts last Friday. Hollands was named to the College Baseball Foundation “National All-Star Lineup” as well as a Regional Player of the Week courtesy of College Baseball Insider.
Hollands tied the school record with 16 strikeouts last Friday vs. Northern Illinois, tossing a complete-game in the 8-1 victory. On Monday he was rewarded as a Collegiate Baseball/Louisville Slugger Pitcher of the Week, Big West Pitcher of the Week and Santa Barbara Athletic Roundtable Player of the Week.
Hollands, a native of El Cerrito tossed his third career complete game, allowing five hits and one run in addition to the 16 strikeouts, and entering the ninth inning he hadn’t allowed a run, and limited NIU to just three hits. The school-record tying performance puts Hollands in select company as only two other Gauchos achieved that mark. Walt Rehm was the first to strike out 16 in a game, doing so against Westmont on March 26, 1970. The record was tied by Barry Zito against New Mexico State on April 5, 1997.
Hollands is 2-0 in three starts this year with a 2.05 ERA. He has struck out 23 hitters in 22.0 innings pitched and opponents are hitting just .184 off him. The 2008 All-American and Big West Freshman Pitcher of the Year opened this season with eight shutout innings vs. San Jose State, which also earned him Big West Pitcher of the Week honors. He is the first Gaucho since James Garcia in 2001 to nab a pair of Big West Pitcher of the Week awards in the same year.
The Gauchos will host a three-game series with New Mexico State this weekend with a Saturday doubleheader scheduled to start at noon. Sunday’s game will be at 11 a.m. All three games will be at UCSB’s Caesar Uyesaka Stadium.
