Big South Announces Baseball Players of the Week - May 22
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – Gardner-Webb’s Mark Black (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Presbyterian College’s Dalton Reeves (Lexington, S.C.) have been named Co-Big South Baseball Players of the Week, while the Runnin’ Bulldogs' Bobby Alcock (Lynn, Mass.) is the Starting Pitcher of the Week for games played May 15-20, it was announced today. In addition, Winthrop’s Josh Bookbinder (Easley, S.C.) was selected the Relief Pitcher of the Week while Presbyterian’s Amman Dewberry (Conyers, Ga.) is the Freshman of the Week honoree.
Black hit .421 (8-for-19) with five runs, 10 RBI and three home runs in four games and three wins last week. He also posted a .895 slugging percentage and stole one base while leading Gardner-Webb to a win over No. 16 Duke and a series win over Charleston Southern to clinch the fourth seed in next week’s 2023 Big South Baseball Championship. Black opened the week going 2-for-5 with two runs, two RBI and a stolen base in a 9-5 road win over the Blue Devils. He followed with a 1-for-4 effort in Thursday's 1-0 win over Charleston Southern, before going 3-for-5 with two home runs and seven RBI – including a grand slam – in a win on Friday to clinch a postseason berth. Black then added a solo home run as part of a 2-for-5 effort in Saturday’s regular season finale.
Reeves belted four home runs in three games with two multi-homer performances. He hit .385 (5-for-13) on the week with four runs and 10 RBI while slugging a whopping 1.385 with all five hits going for extra bases. Reeves made a statement on Thursday night with two three-run home runs in the same inning – a 12-run ninth for the Blue Hose – en route to a commanding 17-3 victory. He then added a double on Friday before capping off the week with a pair of two-run homers in back-to-back innings as PC took the series with a 13-7 win on Saturday.
Alcock tossed 7.0 shutout innings and allowed just two hits in a 1-0 win over Charleston Southern on Thursday. He struck out five and did not allow an extra base hit in leading Gardner-Webb to a series-opening victory the Buccaneers to put the Runnin’ Bulldogs one win away from clinching one of the two remaining seeds in the 2023 Big South Baseball Championship.
Bookbinder posted 4.0 shutout innings with only one hit allowed while picking up a save in Thursday’s crucial 3-2 win at Longwood. He struck out four and did not yield a single walk. Entering the contest in the sixth inning, Bookbinder held the Lancers hitless for his first three innings of work before working around a single in the ninth to close out the victory and help Winthrop earn a spot in the 2023 Big South Baseball Championship.
Dewberry hit .500 (5-for-10) with four runs, three RBI and two home runs in three games. He also doubled once and rounded out the week with a 1.200 slugging percentage. He began the weekend in a pinch-hit role with an RBI double and scored a run as part of a 12-run ninth en route to beating Radford 17-3 on Thursday. He carried that over on Friday with a pair of solo homers before capping the week with two more hits in PC’s 13-7 win in Saturday’s season finale.
Also nominated for Player of the Week: Jarrod Belbin (Campbell), Brett Ahalt (High Point), Drayven Kowalski (Longwood), Zack Whitacre (Radford), Michael Groves (UNC Asheville) and Grant Sherrod (USC Upstate).
Also nominated for Starting Pitcher of the Week: Hunter Loyd (Campbell), Ryan Miller (Longwood), Al Holguin (USC Upstate) and Brody Hopkins (Winthrop).
Also nominated for Relief Pitcher of the Week: Cameron O’Brien (Campbell), Evan Truitt (Charleston Southern), Phil Fox (Gardner-Webb), Braden Halladay (High Point), Dominick D’Ercole (Longwood), Tanner Smith (Presbyterian), Justin Honeycutt (UNC Asheville) and Jake Cubbler (USC Upstate).
Also nominated for Freshman of the Week: Jackson Roberts (Campbell), Chandler Tuupo (Charleston Southern) and Jake Armsey (USC Upstate).