College Update: Surrey, Saatzer turning in stellar seasons on diamond

The following are updates on local athletes at the collegiate level.

Elliot Surrey (Crescenta Valley High, 2012) UC Irvine baseball sophomore: Surrey is quickly putting together an outstanding season with his latest start serving as further evidence.

Against San Diego State on Friday, the former multiple All-Area and All-CIF Southern Section player twirled 7 1/3 innings of shutout ball, allowing just four hits and a walk, while striking out five. The Anteaters notched a 3-0 nonconference win in the process.
With the win, Surrey improved to 6-2.

Surrey is 5-0 in his last five starts, having throw 6 2/3 innings or more in every start and having allowed three total runs combined in the five games. He’s struck out 28 batters to just six walks during the span.

For the season, in 10 starts and 59 2/3 innings, Surrey has struck out 44 and walked 11. His earned-run average sits at a sterling 2.11.

Heading into a three-game Big West series against host UC Davis starting Friday, Irvine is 8-1 in conference and 25-14 overall. Surrey is slated to start the second game of the series on Saturday.

Mark Saatzer (St. Francis High, 2010) Chapman baseball senior: Saatzer is turning in a memorable season to say the least.

Hitting at a .445 clip for the season, the former All-Area honoree was riding a nine-game hitting streak heading into Wednesday’s Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tilt at Caltech that was halted, though he scored two runs and Chapman won, 7-5.

During his hitting streak, Saatzer is 17 for 32 with six multi-hit games, 13 runs scored, four doubles, an astounding three triples, two home runs and 10 runs batted in.

Perhaps most impressive and telling is that Saatzer’s hitting streak coincided with Chapman’s nine-game winning streak, which, grew to 10 on Wednesday, as the team has run its record to 26-10 and 19-6 in the SCIAC.

Saatzer, who’s a fixture at the three-spot in the order and first base in the field, has played in all 36 of his team’s games with a team-leading 61 hits, 39 runs, six home runs, three triples, 36 runs batted in, 20 walks, a .445 batting average and a .693 slugging percentage.

Nick Dragovich (Crescenta Valley High, 2010) Chapman basketball senior: Dragovich turned in a memorable final season with Chapman, which won the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament before falling to Texas-Dallas, 85-70, on March 7 in the first round of the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Dragovich had 10 points and six rebounds in his final game.

Six days earlier in the conference final against Cal Lutheran, Chapman won, 79-51, with Dragovich scoring 16 points on eight-of-10 shooting and pulled down 13 rebounds.

On the season, Dragovich averaged 10.5 points and seven rebounds per game.

Dylan Kilgour (Crescenta Valley, 2012) Macalester basketball sophomore: Though Macalester struggled to a 4-21 mark and a 3-17 record in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Kilgour asserted himself well.

Kilgour, a guard, was named honorable mention on the all-conference squad after leading the Scots with 13.8 points a game. He led his team 14 times, including a career-high 43 points in the second game of the season. For the year, he averaged a team-high 31.6 minutes a game, shot 42% from the field, 41% from the three-point line and averaged 2.6 rebounds and just over two assists.

Kareem Ismail (Flintridge Prep, 2013) Macalester basketball freshman: Ismail earned a spot on the five-player Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference All-Freshman team.

Having reached double-digits in scoring 18 times, Ismail averaged 11.6 points per game, which was second-best on his team. He led the Scots with 5.8 rebounds per game and earned conference player of the week once during the season.

Malcalester struggled mightily, going 4-21 and 3-17 in conference.

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Follow Grant Gordon on Twitter: @TCNGrantGordon.