Big South Announces Baseball Players of the Week - March 4

Big South Announces Baseball Players of the Week - March 4

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – Radford infielder Zack Whitacre (Short Gap, W.Va.) has been named the Big South Baseball Player of the Week while Winthrop’s Riley Huge (Davenport, Fla.) is the Starting Pitcher of the Week for games played February 26-March 3, it was announced today. In addition, Charleston Southern’s Evan Truitt (Berlin, Md.) was selected as the Relief Pitcher of the Week while Presbyterian’s Tristan McGregor (Sarasota, Fla.) is the Freshman of the Week honoree.
 
Whitacre hit .571 (8-of-14) with eight runs, eight RBI, four home runs, one double, and three stolen bases. He posted a .667 on-base percentage while slugging 1.571 with six extra-base hits, including a multi-home run game against Long Island Sunday to earn Radford its first series sweep since 2021. His four home runs ranked third in the nation last week, one behind the national leaders.
 
Huge pitched 7.2 innings allowing only one hit and two walks while recording 20 of his 23 outs via strikeout to lead Winthrop to an 8-0 victory over Maine. His 20 strikeouts are believed to be a single-game Big South record and are the most by any NCAA pitcher since 2017. He struck out the first six hitters he faced before permitting a baserunner, and of his 23 outs, he factored into 22 of the 23 comprised of 20 strikeouts and two groundouts back to the mound.
 
Truitt tossed 4.0 innings in relief on Saturday giving up only two hits and four baserunners while striking out three for Charleston Southern in a victory over Rutgers. Entering the game in the top of the sixth with the Bucs holding a one-run advantage, he closed his outing facing one over the minimum over his final three frames to earn the save and give Charleston Southern a Power 5 win in back-to-back seasons.
 
McGregor pitched 5.0 innings allowing two hits and two runs—both unearned—while striking out seven in Presbyterian’s 12-6 victory over St. Bonaventure last Thursday. After surrendering two unearned runs in the first, he responded by facing just one over the minimum over his final four innings of work, completing his longest career start.
 
Also nominated for Player of the Week: Chandler Tuupo (Charleston Southern), Tommy Tavarez (Gardner-Webb), Noah Campanelli (Longwood), Joel Dragoo (Presbyterian), Cameron Johnson (UNC Asheville), Troy Hamilton (USC Upstate), and Charlie Evans (Winthrop).
 
Also nominated for Starting Pitcher of the Week: Parker Dixon (Gardner-Webb), Ethan Walker (Longwood), Fenix DiGiacomo (Presbyterian), Scott Rouse (Radford), and Henry Proger (USC Upstate).
 
Also nominated for Relief Pitcher of the Week: Connor Maggi (Gardner-Webb), Dominick D’Ercole (Longwood), Jeremiah Hampton (Presbyterian), and Justin Needles (UNC Asheville).
 
Also nominated for Freshman of the Week: Parker Dixon (Gardner-Webb), Andrew Steinhaus (Radford), and Anthony Ruocco (Winthrop).