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It was a week for two Advocate-area collegiate pitchers to shine.

Texas’ Kenn Kasparek earned recognition for two strong outings, while the Heartland Conference recognized St. Mary’s Scott Shimek was for an outstanding season on the mound.

Kasparek, a junior from Weimar, earned the Louisville Slugger’s National Pitcher of the Week, Phillips 66 Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Week and Pro-Line Athletic National Pitcher of the Week awards as well as selection to the Big 12 Spring Sports Good Works Team.

Kasparek threw 17 shutout innings during the course of the week, helping the Longhorns to wins over Texas State and Baylor. Opposing hitters hit just .057 against the right-hander as he struck out 18 while walking two and hitting two batters.

After just missing a perfect game against Texas State because of a hit batsman, he came back five days later to stymie Baylor on three hits in eight scoreless innings. He struck out nine.

For the season, Kasparek is 4-3 with a 3.70 earned run average and 62 strikeouts in 58 1/3 innings.

Off the mound, Kasparek was honored for his community service. He was one of 12 persons named to the Good Works Team.

Kasparek is actively involved in mentoring children in math and reading at Sanchez Elementary School in Austin, helping children with disabilities with math, reading and playground activities at Zavala Elementary, and reading books to children at Habibi’s Hutch Daycare Center.

Other Longhorn activities in which he is involved include Longhorn Halloween, Marathon Kids, Orange Santa and Neighborhood Longhorns. He also participates in the Handicapped Equestrian Learning Program, helping children find new freedom on horseback.

Shimek was named the Heartland Conference Pitcher of the Year as well as to the All-Heartland first team.

The junior right-hander from Shiner is 11-0 this season with a 3.12 ERA. He has allowed 34 runs on 70 hits and 31 walks with 97 strikeouts.

He picked up his 11th win this week after working 6 2/3 innings and allowing one run on five hits and six walks with 10 strikeouts in a win over Lincoln.

College Baseball

Texas A&M’s Travis Starling (Yoakum) picked up his ninth save as he worked two innings, allowing six runs on seven hits and a walk with two strikeouts in wins over Dallas Baptist and Sam Houston State, while Blinn’s (East Bernard) picked up a win against Alvin Community College after allowing five runs on seven hits and two walks with six strikeouts in five innings.

Several pitchers came away with no-decisions. UT-San Antonio’s Steven Vasquez (Beeville) worked 3 1/3 innings, allowing five runs on five hits and three walks with two strikeouts in a loss to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, while TAMUCC’s Brett Gips (Yorktown) worked a third of an inning without allowing a run or a hit in a loss to UTSA.

UT-Pan American’s Shane Janecka (Weimar) was hit for eight runs on 10 hits and two walks in 3 2/3 innings in a loss to Northern Colorado, and UT-Permian Basin’s Ryan Kloesel gave up a run on two hits and two walks in three innings of relief in a loss to Incarnate Word.

Concordia-Austin’s Pat Mercer (Industrial) went 6-for-18 with two RBIs, a run and a stolen base in a pair of wins over UT-Tyler and a pair of losses to McMurry at the American Southwest Conference Tournament. Mercer and Schreiner’s Colton Hermes (Hallettsville) also picked up ASC honors. Mercer was selected the All-West second team, while Hermes received honorable mention.

Texas State’s Elliott Babcock (El Campo) went 4-for-17 with three RBIs and two runs in three losses to Stephen F. Austin and a loss to Rice, while Texas A&M-Kingsville’s Adrian Williams (Memorial) was 0-for-5 in wins over Abilene Christian and Cameron. Blinn College’s Layton Hiller (Memorial) was 2-for-10 with two RBIs and two runs in a two-game split with Alvin CC and a win over Temple College, while Alvin’s Drew Hudson (Memorial) was 3-for-6 with a run, an RBI and a home run against Blinn.

College Football

TCU’s Blake Schlueter (Ganado) has been named to the Rimington Trophy’s 2008 Spring Watch List. A pre-season All-America pick, Schlueter has started all but one game for the Horned Frogs the last two seasons.

College Softball

St. Edward’s Kristen Lozano (Ganado) went 5-for-12 with four RBIs, three runs and a home run in wins over Panhandle State, Lincoln and Incarnate Word and losses to Incarnate Word and St. Mary’s in the Heartland Conference Tournament. Panhandle State’s Krystal Comeaux (Bay City) was 2-for-5 in losses to St. Edward’s and Lincoln.

Texas A&M-Kingsville’s Courtney Rigamonti lost a pair of games to Southeastern Oklahoma and Tarleton State in the Lone Star Conference Tournament. She allowed 13 runs on 19 hits and five walks with six strikeouts in 13 innings.

At the ASC Tournament, Concordia-Austin’s (Karnes City) was 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI, while teammate Jordan Dusek (Weimar) was 0-for-5 in losses to East Texas Baptist and UT-Tyler. Hierholzer also received ASC All-West honorable mention.

East Texas Baptist’s Dani Miller (Memorial) was 3-for-8 with an RBI in a win over Concordia and losses to Louisiana College and Howard Payne, while Howard Payne’s Brooke Schneider (Yoakum) was 1-for-7 in a win over ETBU and a pair of losses to UT-Tyler.

Houston’s Haley Valis (Shiner St. Paul) went 2-for-9 with an RBI in a three-game sweep of UTEP, while Texas State’s Jill Kloesel (Weimar) went 1-for-6 with three runs and an RBI as the Bobcats took two of three from McNeese State.

Memorial grad Andrea Aguilar picked up three wins over Ellsworth for North Iowa Area Community College. She helped her cause by picking up six hits, five RBIs and a home run. She also picked up a win over Kirkwood when she had two hits and three RBIs.

College Track and Field

Texas A&M-Kingsville’s Ted Dugie (Yorktown) was busy at the Lone Star Conference Championships as he placed sixth in the decathlon with 5,257 points. He tied for first in the pole vault (13 feet, 5 3/4 inches), was fourth in the javelin (147-4), sixth in the shot put (32-3), the 400 (55.79 seconds), 110 hurdles (17.67), and the discus (106-0) and took seventh in the 100 (12.03), long jump (19-3 1/4), high jump (5-3) and 1,500 (5:47.31). Dugie also placed second in the javelin with a career-best throw of 170-8.

Dugie’s teammate, Dustin Appling (El Campo), ran the anchor leg on the third-place 1,600 relay (3:19.6) and was ninth in the 400 (57.58). Tremaine Barefield (Memorial) added a fourth-place finish in the triple jump with a season-best 48-2 1/2 for the Javelinas. Barefield also placed fifth in the long jump (22-6 1/4).

Angelo State’s Terrell Lee (Palacios) was 13th in the long jump (20-5 3/4), while Abilene Christian’s Eric Brown (Memorial) was fourth in the 3,000 steeplechase (10:20.81) and A&M-Kingsville’s Felicia Soza (Beeville) seventh in the 800 (2:30.88).

Nicholls State’s Sabrina Henkes (Cuero) broke her own school record in the 400 hurdles after placing fourth in the Louisiana-Lafayette Twilight with a 1:04.34. Teammate Rahjanaye Bailey (Wharton) was seventh with a 1:06.96 and also took third in the 100 hurdles (14.98).

At the Houston Invitational, UT-Pan American’s (Cuero) won the high jump (7-0 1/2), while Houston’s Kiara Pulliam (Louise) was second in the shot put with a season-best 47-6 1/4. SFA’s Kristina Windham (Port Lavaca) was fourth in the pole vault (12-1 1/2) and Texas State’s Alaysha Ford (Van Vleck) was fourth in the triple jump (39-8 3/4).

Trinity’s Chris Baer (Shiner) finished third in the javelin (199-2) at the UT-Arlington Open.

Athletic honors

Former Cuero standout Will Carbonara was recently selected to the University of the Incarnate Word Athletic Hall of Fame. During his senior season in 2002, Carbonara set a school record and Heartland Conference record with his .460 batting average. He was also selected the NCAADivision IISouth Central Regional Player of the Year that season.