Smith, Tavarez Sweep DAC Players of Week
IRVING, Texas – Dallas College Richland's Trey Smith and Oliver Tavarez were named the Dallas Athletic Conference Baseball Players of the Week. Tavarez was selected as the league's Pitcher of the Week.
A sophomore outfielder from San Antonio, Smith went 7 for 16 with four doubles, a home run, 10 RBI, four runs scored and three walks as National Junior College Athletic Association Division III preseason No. 4-ranked Richland swept a three-game DAC series from Dallas College Brookhaven after dropping a nonconference game at NJCAA Division I No. 24 Paris Junior College. Smith homered and doubled in the 5-4 loss at Paris. He went 3 for 4 with a pair of doubles and four RBI in a 12-11 comeback win over Brookhaven to open the three-game set. He drove in four more runs in the Game 2 victory. Smith hit safely in each of the four games during the week.
Smith is batting a team-best .405 with 11 doubles, five homers, a triple and 32 RBI.
A freshman right-hander from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Tavarez went 2-0 in 5 1/3 innings of work over two appearances, allowing no runs, no walks and two hits, while fanning four. Tavarez worked the last four innings of the 12-11 comeback win over Brookhaven, inheriting an 11-3 deficit to pitch the Thunderducks to victory after the offense came alive late in the game. Two days later, he entered the final game of the series with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning in an 8-8 ball game to record the last out of the inning and force extra innings. Tavarez retired Brookhaven in order in the 10th after Richland scored the go-ahead run to pick up his second win in the series. He had two strikeouts over the final inning and a third of no-hit, shutout closer relief.
Tavarez is 2-3 with a 6.52 ERA and 24 strikeouts over 19.1 innings in eight appearances this season.
Richland (13-10) will host Western Oklahoma State College 1 p.m. Thursday and Joliet Junior College and Dallas-Fort Worth Post Grad beginning 10 a.m. Saturday.