Baseball Southern Conference

WCU?s White, Furman?s Smith Named Baseball POTW

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Western Carolina infielder Tyler White has been named the Southern Conference Player of the Week and Furman left-hander Nate Smith has been named the SoCon Pitcher of the Week for all games March 4-10. The selections are made by the league office.

White hit .524 with three home runs and eight RBI in leading the Catamounts to a 3-1 week that included a win over SEC power Georgia and a series win over Davidson. The senior from Forest City, N.C., started all four games at third base for Western Carolina, also seeing time at first. He had a 1.048 slugging percentage and added a .545 on-base percentage.

In a 12-7 win over Georgia on March 5, White hit a three-run home run to help the Catamounts to their second straight road win over the Bulldogs.

White went on to hit .625 against Davidson over the weekend, recording at least three hits in each game as the Catamounts took two of the three contests and won their SoCon opener for the first time since 2009. White fell a triple shy of the cycle in Friday’s 9-4 win, driving in three. The following day, White was 4-for-5 with a double in 7-5 loss to the Wildcats. In Sunday’s rubber game, White went 3-for-4 with a home run, two RBI, an intentional walk and a stolen base as WCU won 5-2.

Western Carolina (9-7, 2-1 SoCon) is back in action Wednesday when it hosts Eastern Kentucky at 5 p.m.

Other top hitters included: Will Callaway (Appalachian State), Ben Boykin (College of Charleston), Bo Thompson (The Citadel), Quinn Bower (Elon), Taylor Johnson (Furman), Robbie Dodds (Georgia Southern), Christian Wolfe (UNCG), Phillip Ervin (Samford) and Josh Hyman (Wofford).

Furman’s Smith struck out seven and walked just one in a 3-1 win over Appalachian State on Friday. The senior from West Chester, Ohio, went 7 2/3 innings and allowed just one extra-base hit as the Paladins took the opener of the three-game series against the defending regular-season SoCon champion and NCAA participant Mountaineers. Furman would go on to win the series, two games to one.

Furman went 4-1 on the week, also sweeping Coastal Carolina on the road in a midweek series, to move to 12-4 overall (4-2 SoCon) on the season and jump into the College Baseball Daily Mid-Major Top 25 at No. 18. The 12-4 start is Furman’s best to open a season since 1926.

Furman hosts Eastern Kentucky on Tuesday at 4 p.m.

Other top pitchers included: Jamie Nunn (Appalachian State), Blake Ross (College of Charleston), Danny Mooney (Davidson), Kyle Webb (Elon), Justin Hess (Georgia Southern), Max Povse (UNCG), Sean Handlan (Samford), Tyler Powell (Western Carolina) and Brandon Yarusi (Wofford).


2013 SoCon Players of the Week
Feb. 18    Tommy Corbin, Samford
Feb. 25    Josh Hyman, Wofford
March 4    Drew DeKerlegand, The Citadel
March 11    Tyler White, Western Carolina

2013 SoCon Pitchers of the Week
Feb. 18    Jamie Nunn, Appalachian State
Feb. 25    Adam Curtis, Western Carolina
March 4    C.K. Irby, Samford
March 11    Nate Smith, Furman
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