POMONA -- Cal Poly Pomona senior center fielder Cesar Lopez has been named the NCAA Division II Baseball Player of the Week by the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper for the week of Mar. 14-20, it was announced Monday.

In addition, Lopez was selected as the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Baseball Player of the Week, also announced Monday by the conference office.

Lopez, the senior from Downey, Calif., exploded for seven doubles and 12 runs batted in, going 10-for-15 at the plate (.667) and boasting a slugging percentage of 1.133 to lead the Broncos to an impressive four-game sweep of visiting Cal State East Bay this past weekend.  In the first game of Saturday's doubleheader, he went 4-for-5 with two doubles and five RBI, then went 2-for-3 with two doubles and two RBI in the nightcap.  In the series finale on Sunday, he was a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with two more doubles, three RBI and three runs scored.  The Broncos outscored the Pioneers 40-16 in the four-game series, including a 17-2 blowout win on Sunday.

Now with a CCAA-best 13 doubles on the season, Lopez is No. 3 in all of Division II this season in that category.  He also leads the CCAA and is 12th in the nation in runs batted in per game (1.56), totaling 28 in 18 games played this year.  He has already exceeded his career-highs in doubles (13) and RBI (28).

Lopez was one of 10 baseball student-athletes around the country to be named National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball this week, but he was the only Division II player to be highlighted.  For the CCAA, this is his first-career conference Player of the Week honor, and it is the second for a CPP player this season (Johnny Pappas, Feb. 7-13).

Riding a five-game win streak, Cal Poly Pomona will host Biola in a non-conference game Tuesday at 5:00 pm before heading north to Sonoma State for a four-game CCAA series in Rohnert Park, beginning Friday.

2022 CCAA BASEBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Jan 31-Feb 6:  Willie Lajoie, Chico State
Feb 7-13:  JOHNNY PAPPAS, CAL POLY POMONA
Feb 14-20:  AJ Salgado, Cal State LA
Feb 21-27:  Kyle Dobson, Chico State
Feb 28-Mar 6:  Chris Rubottom, Cal State Monterey Bay
Mar 7-13:  Scott Ogrin, Cal State Dominguez Hills
Mar 14-20:  CESAR LOPEZ, CAL POLY POMONA