Big South Announces Baseball Players of the Week - April 7
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (
www.BigSouthSports.com) – USC Upstate infielder
Johnny Sweeney (Millstadt, Ill.) has been named the Big South Baseball Player of the Week, while teammate
Amp Phillips (Lancaster, S.C.) and Winthrop’s
Harrison Wilson (Fort Mill, S.C.) are the Co-Starting Pitchers of the Week for games played March 31-April 6, it was announced today. In addition, Radford’s
Jaxon Kehoe (Philadelphia, Pa.) was selected as the Relief Pitcher of the Week, while UNC Asheville’s
Garrett Crum (Greensboro, N.C.) is the Freshman of the Week honoree.
Sweeney slashed .474/.583/.947 to lead USC Upstate in all three categories while driving in a team-high nine runs and adding three home runs. The senior went 9-for-19 over five games, adding six runs scored and five walks. He shined in the weekend series against first-place High Point—who entered the matchup unbeaten in league play—going 8-for-14 overall. Sweeney opened the series with a 4-for-5 night that featured two homers, six RBI and three runs scored on Friday, then followed it up in Sunday’s finale with three more hits, three RBI, and his third home run of the week.
Phillips put forth a career-best start, tossing a career-long 7.0 innings while striking out a career-best 11 hitters to earn the win at first-place High Point. Overall, he permitted four hits, five baserunners, and two earned runs against the Panthers. The right-hander registered a first-pitch strike to 17 of the 26 batters he faced and got into just six three-ball counts. He struck out a hitter in all seven innings he pitched, including striking out multiple hitters in four total innings. Six of his strikeouts came in the first three innings, while he tied his career-high strikeout total with the first out in the fourth inning.
Wilson earned the win for Winthrop with a career-long 7.0 innings against UNC Asheville. The junior right-hander allowed just three hits and one run while striking out a season-high nine batters. He walked only two, didn’t allow an extra-base hit, and surrendered his lone run on a fielder’s choice groundout in the fourth. Wilson recorded strikeouts in six of his seven innings and got stronger as the game went on, fanning two batters in each of his final three frames.
Making his return from injury, Kehoe tossed 6.0 scoreless innings across two standout relief appearances in his first action of the season. The freshman allowed just five hits while striking out four and did not give up a run. He was key in Radford’s midweek win over ETSU, throwing 4.0 shutout innings with three hits allowed and two strikeouts. He followed that with 2.0 more scoreless frames on Saturday against Charleston Southern, adding two more punchouts. Kehoe finished the week with a perfect 0.00 ERA, a 1.17 WHIP, and a .217 opponent batting average.
Crum earned the win in his first career start, tossing a career-best 7.0 innings with five strikeouts to lead UNC Asheville to a Sunday win over Winthrop. The freshman scattered five hits and allowed just two runs and three walks in the outing. He recorded at least one strikeout in four of his first five innings, working out of a fifth-inning jam by catching the final two batters looking. Crum closed strong, not allowing a hit over his final two frames.
Also nominated for Player of the Week:
Nathan Martinez (Charleston Southern),
Jae’dan Carter (Longwood),
Jake Randolph (Presbyterian) and
James Ward (Radford).
Also nominated for Starting Pitcher of the Week:
Guillermo Garcia, Jr. (Longwood),
Tristan McGregor (Presbyterian),
Breckin Nace (Radford) and
Garrett Crum (UNC Asheville).
Also nominated for Relief Pitcher of the Week:
Chris Foster (Charleston Southern),
JJ Harrell (Presbyterian),
Cooper Ellingworth (USC Upstate) and
Nick Veselinovic (Winthrop).
Also nominated for Freshman of the Week:
Mac Tufts (Longwood),
Matthew Rollison (Presbyterian),
Jaxon Kehoe (Radford),
Cayden Mackey (USC Upstate) and
Josh Skowronski (Winthrop).