Baseball Southern Conference

Filliben, Null Earn Weekly Baseball Honors

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Samford shortstop Tyler Filliben and Western Carolina right-hander Jeremy Null have been named the Southern Conference player and pitcher of the week, respectively, for all games March 24-30. The selections are made by the league office.

Filliben hit .400 with four home runs and 10 RBIs last week to help the Bulldogs to a 3-1 mark and a series win over Furman. The redshirt junior from South Miami, Fla., hit safely in all four games with a pair of multi-hit contests.

In Samford’s 7-6 win over in-state rival Jacksonville State on Tuesday, Filliben was 1-for-3 with an RBI, a run and a walk. He reached base three times in the contest, as he was also hit by a pitch.

Against Furman on Friday, Filliben hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning and a solo shot in the seventh to help the Bulldogs rally from a 5-1 deficit to down Furman 9-5. The next day, Filliben had a two-run triple, a walk and a run as the Paladins evened the series, 11-9. In the rubber game on Sunday, Filliben hit another two home runs, this time a three-run shot in the fifth and a solo homer in the ninth, as the Bulldogs claimed the series with a 13-5 win.

Filliben scored seven runs on the week and had a .526 on-base percentage and a 1.333 slugging percentage.

Samford (16-11, 4-2 SoCon) will face Auburn and Alabama A&M in midweek games before hosting Elon over the weekend.

Other top hitters included: Michael Pierson (Appalachian State), Drew DeKerlegand (The Citadel), Ryan Lowe (Davidson), Casey Jones (Elon), Ryan Cleveland (Georgia Southern), Adam Martin (Western Carolina) and James Plaisted (Wofford).

WCU’s Null earned his second weekly pitching honor of the season after blanking Wofford over seven innings on Friday. Null allowed just five hits and one walk, striking out eight to improve to 3-1 on the year.

The junior from Claremont, N.C. faced just two batters over the minimum through his first five innings and ran into trouble just once, pitching out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the sixth.

His eight strikeouts on the day pushed his career total to 224, good for 10th in program history.

Western Carolina (16-9, 5-1 SoCon) swept the Terriers for its ninth straight league series win, taking over the top spot in the SoCon standings. The Catamounts will host UNC Asheville on Tuesday before welcoming in UNCG for a three-game set over the weekend.

Other top pitchers included: Jamie Nunn (Appalachian State), Nick Neitzel (Davidson), Ryan Pennell (Elon), Josh Wirsu (Georgia Southern), Cole Limbaugh (Samford), and Jordan Accetta (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
March 31    Tyler Filliben, Samford

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
March 31    Jeremy Null, Western Carolina

-www.SoConSports.com-