Student-Athlete of the Week - March 9, 2009

Name: Kyle Bellows
Sport: Baseball
Year: Junior
Position: Shortstop

After missing two meetings with area rival Santa Clara (2/27-28) to snap a streak of 120 straight games played since the start of his freshman season, and the majority of a week of practice due to a bout with pneumonia, Kyle Bellows rejoined the Spartan lineup at Pacific on Friday night, March 6. All he did was provide three hits in each of the three games of the series, a sweep for the still-undefeated Spartans, one of just three teams left in the land without a blemish, and bat .818 (9-for-11) while only getting retired once in 13 plate appearances. In addition to the nine hits, one each of which were a double and a triple, he walked once, was hit by a pitch once, and also reached on a Tiger error. Entering the weekend, Pacific had defeated three nationally-ranked opponents on the road.

On Friday night, Bellows singled and scored the Spartans' final two runs in a 5-4 defeat of the Tigers in their 2009 home opener. He singled in each of his first three at-bats following his return, and was 3-for-4 with two runs scored. On Saturday, Bellows' third-inning RBI double tied the game at 2-2. He scored soon after to regain a 3-2 edge for the Spartans, who cruised from there as Bellows wound up 3-for-4 again with the double, a walk, two runs scored and an RBI. In the Sunday finale back home at Municipal Stadium, Bellows singled and scored to cap a three-run first inning, as San Jose State led virtually from start to finish in a 6-3 triumph. He added an RBI single in the fifth, and a triple, his first of the year, on the first pitch of the bottom of the seventh. He was 3-for-3 with a hit-by-pitch, triple, two runs scored, one RBI, and a single-game career-high two steals in two attempts.

Alongside his efforts at the plate, Bellows anchored a Spartan defense from his shortstop position that collectively did not commit an error over the three-game Pacific series, fielding 113 chances cleanly. He accounted for two putouts and eight assists himself, starting a 6-3 double play in the third inning on Saturday with runners at first and second and nobody out in a 4-2 game in favor of the Spartans, marking San Jose State's first twin killing of the season. The Spartans' fielding percentage is now up to .986, by far the best in the WAC after a brief one-year hiatus from that crown, and on pace to shatter the school record of .979 from 2006.

For the week, Bellows slugged 1.091 with a .846 on-base percentage, a team-high six runs scored, and zero strikeouts in his 13 plate appearances.

Past 2008-09 Spartan Foundation Student-Athletes of the Week
August 25 - Emmy Belding, Women's Soccer
September 2 - Kyle Reed, Football
September 8 - Emily Burke, Volleyball
September 15 - Erica Moston, Women's Golf
September 22 - Hiroki Akiyama, Men's Soccer
September 29 - Jared Strubeck, Football
October 6 - Kelly Crow, Volleyball
October 13 - Heather Denman, Women's Swimming
October 20 - Carl Ihenacho, Football
October 27 - Jay Myers, Men's Golf
November 3 - Jared Strubeck, Football
November 10 - Nick Cukar, Men's Soccer
November 17 - Ricky Dorrego, Men's Soccer
November 24 - Heather Denman, Women's Swimming
December 1 - Natalie White, Women's Basketball
December 8 - Heather Denman, Women's Swimming
December 15 - Tim Pierce, Men's Basketball
December 22 - Tim Pierce, Men's Basketball
December 29 - C.J. Webster, Men's Basketball
January 5 - Lauren Mar, Women's Swimming
January 12 - Natalie White, Women's Basketball
January 20 - Thomasina Wallace, Women's Gymnastics
January 26 - Adrian Oliver, Men's Basketball
February 2 - Thomasina Wallace, Women's Gymnastics
February 9 - Dani Curran, Women's Water Polo
February 16 - Jay Myers, Men's Golf
February 23 - Veronica Porte, Women's Gymnastics
March 2 - Heather Denman, Women's Swimming
March 9 - Kyle Bellows, Baseball