May 10, 2010

LOS ANGELES - Freshman center fielder Beau Amaral has earned Pac-10 Player of the Week honors, as announced by the conference office on Monday. Amaral batted .500 in four victories last week, going 7-for-14 with one home run, three doubles, five runs, one RBI and three walks.

Amaral has batted .357 in 40 games as a freshman, making 33 starts in center field. He becomes the first UCLA ballplayer to earn Pac-10 Player of the Week honors during his freshman campaign wince March 13, 2002, when Bruin freshman Wes Whisler and California's John Baker were named Pac-10 Co-Players of the Week.

In UCLA's three-game Pac-10 series sweep at Washington, he batted .364, going 4-for-11 with four runs and two walks. Amaral went 1-for-3 with a solo home run and one walk in UCLA's 7-2 series-opening victory on Friday night. He went 2-for-3 with one double and two runs and drew one walk in a 14-6 win Saturday afternoon. In Sunday's series finale, he extended his season-high hitting streak to 12 games, going 1-for-5 with one run.

Amaral, the son of former UCLA standout and 10-year major league veteran Rich Amaral, becomes the first Bruin to earn the weekly accolade since April 28, 2009, when first baseman Cody Decker was named Pac-10 Player of the Week for the third time in his four-year career.

No. 11 UCLA returns to action at UC Irvine (29-16) on Tuesday, May 11. First pitch at Anteater Ballpark in Irvine, Calif., is slated for 6 p.m. Fans can listen to a live audio broadcast, available free of charge at uclabruins.com. UCLA's John Ramey will have the call live from Anteater Ballpark.