KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – For the second consecutive week, a member of the Western Michigan University baseball team has been named Mid American Conference Player of the Week, with senior center fielder Jackson Kitchen receiving the award this week.
Kitchen is the fourth Bronco to earn Player of the Week honors in 2024, joining Cade Sullivan, Grady Mee and last week’s winner, CJ Richmond.
Kitchen celebrated his final home series for the Brown and Gold by going 7-for-12 (.583) at the plate with five extra-base hits, six runs scored, nine RBIs, a .643 on-base percentage and a 1.583 slugging percentage.
The senior started the weekend by reaching base in all six trips to the plate on Friday and becoming the first player in program history to hit for the cycle, as Western Michigan clinched a berth in the MAC Tournament. Kitchen doubled in the first, homered in the third, singled in the fifth and completed the cycle with a triple in the sixth. He then capped the day off with his second home run in the eighth to tie WMU’s single-game program records for runs scored (5) and total bases (14).
Kitchen followed that up with his third homer of the weekend on Saturday, and then celebrated his Senior Day on Sunday with three more RBIs to help the Broncos claim the series victory against Northern Illinois.
Sitting in second-place in the MAC standings, Western Michigan closes out the regular season later this week at Central Michigan. The Broncos and Chippewas are scheduled to open the three-game set Thursday at 3:00 p.m.
(courtesy WMU Athletics)
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