Bowling Green State University Athletics
Blanton and Jakupcin Complete MAC Scholar-Athlete Sweep
April 03, 2008 | Baseball
April 3, 2008
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Bowling Green State University student-athlete's T.J. Blanton (baseball) and Kelsey Jakupcin (tennis) combined for the first Orange and Brown sweep of the Mid-American Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Week awards during the 2007-08 academic year. The league's front office announced the distinctions today, Apr. 3.
Blanton is the fourth Falcon male to earn the award while Jakupcin is only the second female to hold such a title. Football's Marques Parks and Sinsia Vrvillo earned the award once each while men's soccer's Hunter Van Houten is a two time recipient in 2007-08; women's basketball's Lindsey Goldsberry is the only other female.
Last week, the Sandusky, Ohio native helped the Falcons to a 4-0 week including a 3-0 series sweep over NIU. Blanton, a sophomore outfielder, led the Falcons batting a .615 and going 8-of-13 from the plate. His game-high four RBI's versus Findlay set a new career high and his homer in that game was his first as a Falcon. In total, Blanton picked-up 11 bases for a .667 on base percentage and slugged .846. Away from the plate, Blanton had a 1.000 fielding percentage including eight putouts and an assist. He has helped the Orange and Brown to an 11-9 overall record and a perfect 3-0 MAC season thus far.
Blanton is a health science major that carries a 3.34 cumulative grade point average.
Jakupcin, a junior, won at both the top singles and doubles flights, as the tennis Falcons also swept Northern Illinois, 7-0, in the team's only match of the week. The Dublin, Ohio native downed NIU's Nao Umemura in straight sets by identical 6-4 scores at the No. 1 singles flight. Jakupcin teamed with freshman Christine Chiricosta for an 8-5 win at the top doubles flight. BGSU's active career wins leader, she now has a total of 104 combined career wins, and has moved into a tie for 15th on the BGSU list. Saturday's doubles win was the 50th of her career, tying her for 18th on the school list. She now has 54 career singles wins, ranking 16th in school history. On the year, Jackupcin is 15-7 in singles, including a stellar 12-2 mark at the top flight in dual play. She and Chiricosta have combined to go 11-3 in dual matches at the No. 1 doubles flight. BGSU is now 12-2 overall this season.
As a communication disorders major at the University, Jakupcin has earned a 3.69 GPA.
The tennis Falcons, who have not seen action since beating the Huskies last week, will return to the court on Friday, April 4 and will host Buffalo in a MAC match-up. Matches are scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. Meanwhile, Blanton and the baseball Falcons will host Central Michigan for a weekend series also beginning Friday. First pitch against the Chip's will be tossed at 3:00 p.m. Since sweeping NIU, BGSU lost a pair of non-conference slugfests at the hands of Youngstown State (18-13) and Wright State (11-10).
The MAC Scholar Athlete of the Week honor is presented to a MAC male and female student-athlete who has a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better and performs well during that week's competition. The winners are selected by a group of the conference's faculty athletic representatives.
