Baseball Southern Conference

App's Zupcic, WCU's Null Earn Final Weekly Baseball Honors

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Appalachian State second baseman Tyler Zupcic and Western Carolina right-hander Jeremy Null have been named the Southern Conference player and pitcher of the week, respectively, for all games May 12-17. The selections are made by the league office. The weekly awards are the final ones of the 2014 season.

Zupcic hit an even .500 on the week as the Mountaineers went 3-1 and won their final SoCon series, two games to one over Furman. Zupcic had three multi-hit games on the week, scoring eight runs and driving in six. Five of his eight hits on the week went for extra bases as he slugged 1.000.

Zupcic started his week by coming off the bench to go 2-for-4 with a double, a triple, an RBI and three runs scored in Appalachian State’s 9-5, 10-inning win at East Tennessee State on Tuesday.

The redshirt senior from Charlotte, N.C., went 4-for-4 with a double, an RBI and four runs scored in the Mountaineers’ 11-7 win over Furman on Friday, matching his career high in hits. He was hit by a pitch in game two of the doubleheader, a 9-2 Furman win.

In Saturday’s finale, and his Senior Day, Zupcic went 2-for-4 with a double, a home run and four runs driven in in his final home contest. His two-run double in the bottom of the ninth inning lifted the Apps to a 6-5 walk-off win, giving them the No. 5 seed in the upcoming Southern Conference Baseball Championship and a first-round bye into the double-elimination portion of the bracket.

The Mountaineers (20-32, 12-14) will take on No. 4 seed Georgia Southern (34-20, 15-12) at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park in Charleston, S.C.

Other top hitters included: Hughston Armstrong (The Citadel), Lee Miller (Davidson), Bradley Strong (Western Carolina) and Josh Hyman (Wofford).

Western Carolina’s Null hurled the first complete game of his career on Friday against Davidson, picking up the win that clinched the Catamounts’ second straight regular-season SoCon title and 13th overall.

In game one of the title-deciding doubleheader, Null allowed just two runs on seven hits and a walk in nine innings in the 10-2 win. He struck out nine, two of which came in the ninth inning. The junior from Claremont, N.C., opened the game with five scoreless innings and returned to the contest after a 30-minute rain delay midway through.

Null’s nine strikeouts pushed his career total to 260, moving him into sixth place in school history.

Western Carolina went 4-0 on the week, topping Kennesaw State in midweek action before sweeping the Wildcats, who entered the final series of the season in first place, percentage points ahead of the Catamounts.

Top-seeded Western Carolina (37-16, 20-6 SoCon) will play its first SoCon tournament game Wednesday at 1 p.m. and awaits the winner of Tuesday’s contest between No. 8 seed Furman (23-31, 11-15 SoCon) and No. 9 seed UNCG (21-27, 8-16 SoCon). The SoCon Baseball Championship runs from May 20-25.

Other top pitchers included: Taylor Thurber (Appalachian State), Skylar Hunter (The Citadel), Clark Beeker (Davidson), Alex Ledford (Samford), and Jesse Morris (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
April 7    Dillon Dobson, Appalachian State
April 14    Matt Brill, Appalachian State
April 21    Bradley Strong, Western Carolina
April 28    Hunter King, UNCG
May 5    Jacob Hoyle, Western Carolina
May 12    Jordan Simpson, Furman
May 19    Tyler Zupcic, Appalachian State

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
April 7    Josh Wirsu, Georgia Southern
April 14    Tyler Frazier, UNCG
April 21    Parker Curry, Samford
April 28    Danny Mooney, Davidson
May 5    Jacques de Gruy, Furman
May 12    Sam Howard, Georgia Southern
May 19    Jeremy Null, Western Carolina

-www.SoConSports.com-