May 8, 2006
NORMAL, Ill. -
In four games last week, the Illinois State baseball team posted a 3-1 record and earned a much needed Missouri Valley Conference series win over league-leader Wichita State. Junior right fielder Matt Bolt had a lot to do with that record, as the left-hander went 7-for-14 (.500) with three doubles, a triple, six runs scored and four RBI in that span. For that performance, Bolt has been recognized as the MVC Player of the Week, his first such honor this season.
The Willow Springs, Ill., native was instrumental in the Redbirds' 2-1 series win over Wichita State, especially in the rubber match of the series on Sunday. Against the Shockers on Sunday, in which the 'Birds won in extra innings, Bolt reached base four times and scored three runs in that contest to propel Illinois State to the 4-3 win. In addition, Bolt extended his hitting streak to 12 games on Sunday, the second longest of the season for a Redbird player behind Kris Jenkins' 13-game streak.
ISU head coach Jim Brownlee was impressed with the way his leadoff hitter set the table for the Redbird offense.
"Over the past 20 games, Matt has really sparked this team and he certainly came up big over the weekend against Wichita State," said Brownlee. "All you can ask of your leadoff hitter is to find a way to get on base and then try to score, and he did that throughout the entire week for us. Hopefully that can rub off on some of the other hitter in our lineup and we can make a strong push through the final two weeks of conference play."
Despite Bolt's recent success, the season has not been the easiest for the three-year letterwinner. Just 20 games ago, Bolt was .134 on the season, but has since raised his average 140 points to its current spot at .274. The start was unusual for Bolt, who is a career .301 hitter, but Brownlee never counted out his veteran hitter.
"Matt is one of the best collegiate hitters that I have ever had the pleasure of coaching in my 27 years, so I was very optimistic that Matt would figure it out and get the ship righted," said Brownlee. "Even though he started slow, Matt kept practicing hard and that work ethic is what corrected the problem.
"Matt has come a long way this season because he works so hard and does things the right way. This honor is a testament to that, and I couldn't be happier for him."
