ALVA, Okla. – It was a big weekend for the Ranger baseball team and senior lefty pitcher Walker Wharton, as not only did the team sweep Christian Brothers in a three-game series, but Wharton was also the recipient of the first Pitcher of the Week honor in the Great American Conference.

It was Wharton's first game back in nearly two years as his entire 2017 season was foregone due to having Tommy John surgery.

Needless to say, the surgery was a tremendous success as he was able to get back on the mound and deal his way to a 2-0 shutout over the Bucs of Christian Brothers.

In the bottom of the first inning, Wharton gave up one hit, but that was it for the rest of his 7.1 innings of work against CBU. He was also responsible for striking out four batters, while only giving up two walks and a hit-by-pitch to the home team. An impressive 17 of his outs recorded were either groundouts or flyouts.

Wharton and the rest of the Ranger squad are looking for more success this week as they were hosting Fort Hays State on Wednesday at 3 p.m. and will finish out the week at home against Missouri Southern State, coming to town for a doubleheader on Thursday and then a single nine-inning game on Friday that is slated to begin at 1 p.m.