SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Elon catcher Alex Swim has been named the Southern Conference Baseball Player of the Week while Georgia Southern right-handed pitcher Chris Beck has been selected as the league's Pitcher of the Week for all games from March 26 - April 1.
Swim was instrumental in Elon's perfect 4-0 week as he recorded back-to-back five-hit games against Samford over the weekend. The junior backstop was 13-for-22 (.591) at the plate with a double and four runs scored. Swim was 5-for-5 against Samford in game one of Saturday's doubleheader as the Phoenix opened the series with a 7-4 victory. In game two, the Greensboro, N.C., native was 5-for-9 in the two-day, 18-inning marathon which Elon eventually pulled out, 5-3. His strong week extended his current hit streak to 22 games, which is the longest in the Southern Conference this season.
Beck struck out 18 batters last week and finished with a save and win in his two appearances. He pitched the ninth inning in the Eagles' 5-3 victory over No. 21 Georgia Tech on Tuesday in Atlanta and earned his first career save after striking out two of the three batters he faced. The junior captain picked up where he left off on Friday with 16 strikeouts against College of Charleston, two short of the school record and four away from the SoCon mark of 20, to earn his third win of the season. Beck picked up his sixth quality start of the year after allowing two runs in six innings. The Jefferson, Ga., native struck out 10 of the first 14 batters he faced while 16 of the 18 outs he recorded against CofC were by strikeout.
Other hitters receiving consideration were Trey Holmes (Appalachian State), Rob Harding (College of Charleston), Andrew Barna (Davidson), Paul Nitto (Furman), Eric Phillips (Georgia Southern), Zach Leach (UNCG), Phillip Ervin (Samford), Cody Jones (Western Carolina) and Matt Moore (Wofford).
Other top performers among pitchers were Jamie Nunn (Appalachian State), Christian Powell (College of Charleston), Ryan Hines (The Citadel), Clark Beeker (Davidson), Andrew MacDonald (Elon), Lee Gilliam (UNCG), Joseph Burns (Samford), Jeremy Null (Western Carolina) and Cash Collins (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
April 2 Alex Swim, Elon
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
April 2 Chris Beck, Georgia Southern