Big South Announces Baseball Players of the Week - May 15
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – Longwood’s Gregory Ryan, Jr. (North Chesterfield, Va.) and Campbell’s Chandler Riley (Cox Mill, N.C.) have been named the Co-Big South Baseball Players of the Week, while the Lancers’ Guillermo Garcia, Jr. (Royal Palm Beach, Fla.) is the Starting Pitcher of the Week for games played May 8-14, it was announced today. In addition, High Point’s Braden Halladay (Tampa, Fla.) was selected the Relief Pitcher of the Week while USC Upstate’s Mathieu Curtis (Tega Cay, S.C.) is the Freshman of the Week honoree.
In four games, Ryan, Jr. batted .400 (8-20) with seven runs, 11 RBI, two home runs, one double and one triple. He slugged .850 with a .429 on-base percentage while rounding out the week with at least one extra-base hit and one RBI in three of the four games to boost Longwood to a trio of wins. Ryan, Jr. opened the week going 3-5 with a home run and three RBI in an 8-6 win over VCU. He added a double, two runs and an RBI in a 12-2 victory against Presbyterian College to open the weekend before capping off the week on Sunday by going 4-5 with seven RBI and three runs, highlighted by a triple and a grand slam in the eighth inning to solidify a series win over the Blue Hose.
Riley batted .667 (10-15) with six runs, four RBI and multiple hits in all four games. He also walked three times and completed the week with a .722 on-base percentage and a .733 slugging percentage. Riley began the week with three hits in each of Campbell’s first two games on the week, both wins. He went 3-5 with two runs, two RBI and a walk against UNC-Wilmington on Tuesday, followed by a perfect 3-3 day at the plate with one run and one RBI on Friday night against Gardner-Webb. He added two runs and two hits in a third win on Saturday, including an RBI double, before capping off the week on Sunday by going 2-4 with another run scored.
Garcia, Jr. totaled 7.0 innings in the starting role while allowing no runs on only three hits and striking out eight for the Lancers. He gave up only one extra-base hit while limiting opponents to just a .130 batting average. After tossing an inning of scoreless work with a strikeout in a win over VCU on Tuesday, Garcia, Jr. earned the nod once again against Presbyterian on Saturday. He racked up seven strikeouts while allowing only three hits and retired the side in order in four of his six full innings of work.
Halladay tossed 4.0 innings and earned one save after allowing just two hits and striking out two in a pair of outings for High Point, both wins. He entered Saturday’s win over Winthrop and yielded just one hit while striking out one, before returning on Sunday to earn a two-inning save with one hit allowed and another strikeout as the Panthers downed the Eagles for a second-straight game, 12-9.
Curtis went 7.0 innings and picked up a win for USC Upstate on Sunday at Charleston Southern. He allowed only four hits while giving up two runs and striking out six. Curtis allowed just four baserunners all day and got stronger as the game continued as he retired the final nine batters he faced. The 7.0 innings pitched marked a new career-best, while his six strikeouts also marked a new career-high.
Also nominated for Player of the Week: Brett Ahalt (High Point), Brody Fahr (Presbyterian), Ty Kaufman (UNC Asheville), Jace Rinehart (USC Upstate) and Ricky Teel (Winthrop).
Also nominated for Starting Pitcher of the Week: Chance Daquila (Campbell), Brett Wozniak (High Point), Charlie McDaniel (Presbyterian) and Mathieu Curtis (USC Upstate).
Also nominated for Relief Pitcher of the Week: Ty Cummings (Campbell), Lenny Washington (Gardner-Webb), Dominick D’Ercole (Longwood), Justin Needles (UNC Asheville), Trent Hodgdon (USC Upstate) and Josh Bookbinder (Winthrop).
Also nominated for Freshman of the Week: Collin Hughes (Longwood) and Nicholas Badillo (Winthrop).