Big South Announces Baseball Players of the Week - Feb. 21
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – High Point’s Blake Sutton (Louisville, Ky.) has been named the Big South Baseball Player of the Week, while USC Upstate’s Henry Proger (Menifee, Calif.) is the Starting Pitcher of the Week for games played during the opening weekend of the 2023 season, it was announced today. In addition, Campbell’s Ty Cummings (Clayton, N.C.) was selected as the Relief Pitcher of the Week, while Radford’s Garrett Pancione (Warrenton, Va.) is the Freshman of the Week honoree.
Sutton batted .364 (4-11) with four runs scored, three home runs and six RBI in High Point’s series sweep of Bryant. He slugged 1.182 and had a .500 on-base percentage. He hit two runs and two hits in the season-open Friday night, including a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the 10th inning. He followed with two home runs and two RBI in Saturday’s 7-6 win, and rounded out the week by twice reaching base safely and scoring one run in Sunday’s 10-5 win over the Bulldogs.
Proger allowed just one hit in six innings with one walk and eight strikeouts in the USC Upstate’s 10-2 win over Towson to help the Spartans complete a series sweep on Sunday. He carried a perfect game through five innings, holding it for another two outs in the sixth, and surrendered just two baserunners all game. He struck out at least two batters in three of six innings while holding Tiger batters to a .053 average at the plate.
Cummings tossed 3.0 scoreless innings with two strikeouts to help preserve Campbell’s 10-0 shutout win over Rutgers on Saturday. Facing a potent offense, he limited the Scarlet Knights to only one baserunner in three innings of work, while each of his three strikeouts came with a runner in scoring position to help keep the Camels’ shutout intact.
Pancione hit .625 (5-8) with one run scored, one double, one home run, five RBI and a walk in Radford’s series win over Iona. He slugged 1.125 and had a .667 on-base percentage. He picked up a single in his first-career game on Saturday, before his memorable debut weekend culminated with a 4-4 day at the plate on Sunday with a home run, a double and five RBI to lead the Highlanders in a series-deciding 9-2 win over the Gaels. Pancione’s five RBI ere the most in a single game by a Radford freshman since 2018.
Also nominated for Player of the Week: Tyler Halstead (Campbell), Peyton Henry (Radford), Robbie Burnett (UNC Asheville) and Adam Grob (USC Upstate).
Also nominated for Starting Pitcher of the Week: Chance Daquila (Campbell), Evan Truitt (Charleston Southern), Sam Garcia (High Point), Fenix DiGiacomo (Presbyterian), Scott Rouse (Radford), Justin Honeycutt (UNC Asheville) and Riley Huge (Winthrop).
Also nominated for Relief Pitcher of the Week: Sean Duffy (High Point), Brendan Bean (Gardner-Webb), Luke Gibson (Presbyterian), Blake Little (UNC Asheville) and Noah Sullivan (USC Upstate).
Also nominated for Freshman of the Week: Andy Schuldt (Campbell).