SPARTANBURG, S.C. - College of Charleston left fielder Brandon Murray has been named the Southern Conference Baseball Player of the Week while Appalachian State right-handed pitcher Seth Grant has been selected as the league's Pitcher of the Week for all games from March 19-25.
Murray led the Cougars to a three-game sweep over Davidson this weekend, batting .636 with a pair of home runs while pushing Charleston's SoCon win streak to nine games. The sophomore from Nassau, Bahamas had multiple hits in each of the three games against the Wildcats, including a 3-for-5 effort that yielded a career-best five runs driven-in in Friday's series opener. On the week, Murray scored five times and had eight RBIs, notched a 1.182 slugging percentage and reached base at a .733 clip.
Grant tossed a complete-game, five-hit shutout in Saturday's 5-0 win over Elon, marking the first nine-inning shutout in the SoCon this season. The senior from Etowah, N.C., retired 25 of the 31 batters he faced, allowing only five hits and a walk. He got off to a shaky start, as Elon put runners on first and second base with just one out in the bottom of the first inning, but Grant got out of the jam with a pair of strikeouts and went on to retire 11 batters in a row. The righty needed only 117 pitches to complete the nine-inning gem, the second complete-game shutout of his career.
Other hitters receiving consideration were Daniel Kassouf (Appalachian State), Alex Swim (Elon), Will Miller (Furman), Chase Griffin (Georgia Southern), Lloyd Enzor (UNCG), Brad Moss (Samford), Bradley Strong (Western Carolina) and Mac Doyle (Wofford).
Other top performers among pitchers were Josh Renfro (College of Charleston), Spencer Medick (Elon), Chris Beck (Georgia Southern), Kyle Putkonen (Samford), Jordan Smith (Western Carolina) and Eric Eck (Wofford).
2012 SoCon Baseball Players of the Week
Feb. 20 Saxon Butler, Samford
Feb. 27 Thomas Troelstrup, UNCG
March 5 Will Owens, Furman
March 12 Ross Heffley, Western Carolina
March 19 Will Callaway, Appalachian State
March 26 Brandon Murray, College of Charleston
2012 SoCon Baseball Pitchers of the Week
Feb. 20 Eric Eck, Wofford
Feb. 27 Ryan Arrowood, Appalachian State
March 5 Ryan West, College of Charleston
March 12 Josh Martin, Samford
March 19 Dylan Clark, Elon
March 26 Seth Grant, Appalachian State