Baseball Southern Conference

McDonald, Frederick Earn Weekly Baseball Honors

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – UNCG infielder Jordan McDonald and Georgia Southern right-hander Ryan Frederick have been named the Southern Conference player and pitcher of the week, respectively, for all games March 17-23. The selections are made by the league office.

McDonald hit .471 with a .765 slugging percentage and eight RBIs to help the Spartans to a 3-1 record last week. The junior from Perth, Australia, hit safely in all four games to extend his hitting streak to a career-best 16 games, which is just five shy of the school record.

McDonald opened his week with a 2-for-5 showing in a win over Maryland Eastern Shore, tallying a double, a walk, an RBI and two runs scored.

In UNCG’s series win over Furman over the weekend, McDonald was 6-for-12. In the game-one loss on Friday, the Spartans’ shortstop was 1-for-4 with a run scored. He was also hit by a pitch. The next day was a career day for the junior, who went 4-for-4 with a home run and a career-best seven RBIs in game one of a doubleheader. McDonald was 1-for-4 with a double and a run in the nightcap as UNCG swept the doubleheader to claim the series win.

UNCG (12-11, 2-1) will take on crosstown rival North Carolina A&T on Tuesday at NewBridge Bank Park, home of the Greensboro Grasshoppers, before heading to Boone, N.C., for a weekend series at Appalachian State.

Other top hitters included: Michael Pierson (Appalachian State), Mason Davis (The Citadel), Sam Foy (Davidson), Casey Jones (Elon), Ben Morgan (Georgia Southern), Brandon Powell (Samford), Jacob Hoyle (Western Carolina) and James Plaisted (Wofford).

Georgia Southern’s Frederick went 2-0 with a 1.69 ERA in three appearances last week.

The sophomore from Springfield, Ga., picked up his first win of the week on Tuesday, allowing just one run in three innings to claim the victory over No. 13 Clemson. He struck out two and walked one.

In the Eagles’ weekend series win over Appalachian State, Frederick struck out the only batter he faced in Saturday’s appearance against the Mountaineers and followed that up with two innings of perfect relief Sunday. He struck out two batters, both in the ninth inning, in that win.

For the week, he allowed just three hits and a walk, striking out five.

Georgia Southern (19-6, 3-3 SoCon) heads to Jacksonville, Fla., to take on North Florida on Tuesday before facing SoCon leader Davidson for a three game road set over the weekend.

Other top pitchers included: Tyler Moore (Appalachian State), Skylar Hunter (The Citadel), Ryan Lowe (Davidson), Lucas Bakker (Elon), Alex Ledford (Samford), Tyler Powell (Western Carolina) and Luke Leftwich (Wofford).

2014 SoCon Players of the Week
Feb. 17    Heath Quinn, Samford
Feb. 24    Stryker Brown, Georgia Southern
March 3    Aaron Mizell, Georgia Southern
March 10    Forrest Brandt, Davidson
March 17    Adam Martin, Western Carolina
March 24    Jordan McDonald, UNCG

2014 SoCon Pitchers of the Week
Feb. 17    Jeremy Null, Western Carolina
Feb. 24    Jake Stalzer, Elon
March 3    Jake Stalzer, Elon
March 10    Lucas Bakker, Elon
March 17    Lucas Bakker, Elon
March 24    Ryan Frederick, Georgia Southern

-www.SoConSports.com-