SAINT PAUL, Minn. – The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) announced its award winners for the past week, and Yellowjacket junior Christian Garcia (Blue Springs, Mo./Blue Springs) has been honored, being named the conference's Baseball Player of the Week in a release Monday.
 
For Garcia, the award marks the second time he has received a weekly award from the UMAC, having also received the award the week of Mar. 20.
 
The 2023 season has been a good one for Garcia, and last week was no exception. In four games, Garcia batted .500 with eight hits in 16 at bats. Of his hits, three went for extra bases. Garcia also scored two runs and drove in five.
 
In Friday's opening game of the weekend series with Crown, Garcia went 4-for-4 with a double, a run scored and an RBI, helping the Yellowjackets to a win over the Polars and cementing the team into a top-two seed in the upcoming UMAC tournament.

For the year, Garcia leads the Yellowjackets in several offensive categories, including batting average (.461), hits (53), runs (37), doubles (18) and runs batted in (31). His 18 doubles rank him first in the UMAC, while his batting average ranks him second.
 
The Yellowjackets (20-13) have locked up the program's first winning season since 1975, while also winning 20 games for the first time in program history. They will open the 2023 UMAC Tournament Thursday, when they take on Crown at 4 p.m. All games in the tournament will be played at Franklin Rogers Park in Mankato.