Big South Announces Baseball Players of the Week - April 28

Big South Announces Baseball Players of the Week - April 28

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – Winthrop catcher Nate Chronis (Scottsdale, Ariz.) has been named the Big South Baseball Player of the Week, while USC Upstate’s Amp Phillips (Lancaster, S.C.) is the Starting Pitcher of the Week for games played April 21-27, it was announced today. In addition, USC Upstate’s Max Bianchini (Schaumburg, Ill.) was selected as the Relief Pitcher of the Week, while Winthrop’s Josh Skowronski (Frederick, Md.) is the Freshman of the Week honoree.
 
Chronis batted .438 (7-for-16) for the week with 15 RBI in a series sweep at Longwood, highlighted by a historic nine-RBI performance on Saturday. Over four games overall, he tallied four doubles, a home run, four runs scored, and two stolen bases. The senior delivered a career day in game two against the Lancers, going 3-for-5 with a two-run homer, a pair of bases-clearing doubles, and a sacrifice fly to finish with nine RBI, tying for the most in the NCAA this season. Chronis opened the week by going 2-for-4 with a double at Davidson, then added a double and two RBI in Friday’s series opener in Farmville. He capped the weekend with another four RBI and two stolen bases to help lead the Eagles to a three-game sweep in conference play. He rounded out the week slugging .875 with a .455 on-base percentage.
 
Phillips tossed 6.0 scoreless innings, scattering five hits and eight baserunners while striking out three to earn the win Friday night at Gardner-Webb. He induced a season-high three double plays on the evening and did not allow a baserunner into scoring position until the third inning. The right-hander racked up a pair of strikeouts in the first before adding another punchout in the fourth. He held the Runnin’ Bulldogs to a .236 batting average on 22 batters faced. 
 
Bianchini pitched a pair of scoreless relief outings for the Spartans, totaling 6.0 scoreless innings, scattering four hits with three strikeouts, and picking up one win. He worked 1.1 scoreless innings versus Tennessee Tech on Wednesday, entering the game in the fourth and stranding an inherited runner on third before working a clean fifth inning. The right-hander then threw 4.2 scoreless innings Saturday at Gardner-Webb to preserve the Spartan victory and earn the win. He entered the game with two runners in scoring position and a two-run Upstate advantage in the fifth inning, retiring two batters he faced in the frame before taking it the distance from there. 
 
Skowronski homered twice, doubled twice, posted a pair of three-hit games, and drove in five runs across four games for Winthrop. He batted .421 (8-for-19) for the week, recorded at least one hit in every game, and added six runs and two stolen bases. After opening the week with an RBI double at Davidson, Skowronski totaled seven hits during a three-game series sweep at Longwood. He went 3-for-6 on Saturday, blasting a solo homer, adding an RBI single and a double, and scoring three times. He followed that performance by going 3-for-5 with a two-run homer on Sunday to help cap off the sweep. Skowronski finished the week slugging .842 with a .476 on-base percentage.

Also nominated for Player of the Week: Kaden Smith (Charleston Southern), Brayden Simpson (High Point), Carter Newman (Longwood), Jackson Hugus (Presbyterian), Breckin Nace (Radford) and Johnny Sweeney (USC Upstate).
 
Also nominated for Starting Pitcher of the Week: Wade Walton (High Point), Guillermo Garcia Jr. (Longwood), Tyrell Williams (Presbyterian) and Harrison Wilson (Winthrop). 
 
Also nominated for Relief Pitcher of the Week: Ryan DuSang (Charleston Southern), Dalton Olsovsky (High Point), Robbie Boykin (Presbyterian), Andrew Steinhaus (Radford) and Ben Rehkow (Winthrop).
 
Also nominated for Freshman of the Week: Wade Walton (High Point), Mikey Urbaniak (Longwood), Mikey Marroquin Jr. (Presbyterian), Tyler Sparrer (Radford) and Henry Zenor (USC Upstate).