Baseball Southern Conference

CofC?s Murray, Wofford?s Yarusi Earn Weekly Baseball Awards

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – College of Charleston outfielder Brandon Murray has been named the Southern Conference Player of the Week and Wofford right-hander Brandon Yarusi has been named the SoCon Pitcher of the Week for all games April 8-14. The selections are made by the league office.

Murray hit .316 with three home runs and 13 RBIs on the week as the Cougars went 2-2 overall and took the series at Davidson over the weekend.

Murray had a single in CofC’s 2-1, 14-inning loss at Coastal Carolina on Wednesday before exploding against the Wildcats a few days later.

In Friday’s 10-5 CofC win, the junior from Nassau, Bahamas, was 2-for-5 with a homer and four RBIs. He had an RBI single in the fifth, a two-run home run in the seventh and an RBI groundout in the eighth inning.

After going hitless with two walks in Saturday’s 5-4 loss, Murray had a career game Sunday, going 3-for-4 with a school-record nine RBIs. Murray hit a grand slam, a three-run home run and a two-run double in the rubber game of the series to lead the Cougars to the 18-5 win.

The nine RBIs are the third-most in a game this season nationally and the most in a SoCon game since 2008.

For the week, Murray slugged .842 and had an on-base percentage of .409. He was also named a Collegiate Baseball Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week on Monday.

College of Charleston (20-15, 11-6 SoCon) will face No. 18 South Carolina in Columbia, S.C., on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Other top hitters included: Jaylin Davis (Appalachian State), Calvin Orth (The Citadel), Robbie Dodds (Georgia Southern), C.K. Irby (Samford), Julian Ridings (Western Carolina) and Seth Neely (Wofford).

Yarusi hurled his second career complete-game shutout on Sunday at Furman, blanking the Paladins 5-0 in the rubber game of that series. The senior from Belmar, N.J., scattered eight singles in picking up his second complete game of the season.

Yarusi did not walk a batter and struck out eight, pushing his career total to 209, second among active SoCon pitchers.

Wofford (15-23, 6-12 SoCon), which took two of three from Furman over the weekend, hosts crosstown rival USC Upstate on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

Other top pitchers included: Jamie Nunn (Appalachian State), Jake Zokan (College of Charleston), Austin Mason (The Citadel), Justin Hess (Georgia Southern), Eric Wright (Samford) and Jordan Smith (Western Carolina).


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
March 18    Bo Thompson, The Citadel
March 25    C.K. Irby, Samford
April 1    Cambric Moye, UNCG
April 8    Ryan Kinsella, Elon
April 15    Brandon Murray, College of Charleston

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
March 18    Kyle Webb, Elon
March 25    C.K. Irby, Samford
April 1    Sam Agnew-Wieland, Appalachian State
April 8    Sam Agnew-Wieland, Appalachian State
April 15    Brandon Yarusi, Wofford

-www.SoConSports.com-