Week five is underway within the collegiate baseball atmosphere while conference play looms in the near future for our athletes who have consistently dominated across all aspects of the game. Lighting up the scoreboard once again, and earning Rienzi Pasta Player of the Week honors for a third time in the young 2024 season is sophomore first baseman, Jackson Lovich. Extinguishing opponents on the mound, rookie left-hander Marcello Mastroianni landed himself on both the Big East honor roll, as well as his Whaler’s Brewery Pitcher of the Week for a second time. 

Rienzi Pasta Player of the week, for the third time this season as he ceaselessly breaks his own records and headlines our stat sheets, is sophomore Jackson Lovich out of the University of Missouri. On the heels of yet another remarkable weekend, the Kansas native launched his fifth home run of the season, and tallied two doubles and a triple while bringing in four runs for the Tigers. Reaching two season marks in the weekend series with Purdue Fort Wayne, Lovich tallied his first triple of the year and a season-high of three hits in a single game. This extends his career-best hit streak to eleven games dating back to February 24th, and is now hitting .377 with seventeen hits on the year. Lovich’s essential contributions led the Tigers to a season-high 19 hit attack over Purdue Fort Wayne to take the series finale 20-2. Lovich now leads the Tigers in batting average with the most at-bats (61), runs batted in (19), sitting at .377 on the year. With a successful stolen base on the weekend, he’s now 3-for-3 on bags this season. The Tigers head to Kansas to kick off their five-game road stand where they match up with the University of Arkansas for their first SEC series of the 2024 campaign. 

Earning Whalers Brewery Pitcher of the Week honors for the second time in his rookie year is Marcello Mastroianni from Georgetown University. The Hoyas welcomed Cornell University, and extinguished the Big Red-Hot offense to tally 44 runs in just two games. Getting his second win of the season, Mastroianni set the tone for a game-two victory going lights out through five innings, allowing one hit and no runs with five strikeouts on the day. The rookie's impressive performance earned him a position on the Big East weekly honor roll with his record outing in their victory weekend. “Mastroianni gave us a great start today, getting his second win of the season was awesome to see and it set the tone for game two,” cheerfully exclaimed head coach Edwin Thompson. The Hoyas hit the road to take on George Washington and Delaware in back-to-back midweek matchups before welcoming the University of Albany for a weekend series. 

We are so proud of our guys and can not wait to see what else they accomplish this season. For real time updates, follow @OceanStateWaves on X and Instagram.