Baseball Southern Conference

ETSU?s Phillips, Wofford?s Leftwich Take Weekly Baseball Honors

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – ETSU first baseman Kevin Phillips and Wofford right-hander Luke Leftwich have been named the Southern Conference player and pitcher of the week, respectively, for all games March 9-15. The selections are made by the league office.

ETSU’s Phillips hit .400 with three doubles, two home runs and 10 RBIs on the week. Five of Phillips’ six hits on the week went for extra bases as the Bucs dropped a Tuesday contest at Tennessee before rebounding with a three-game sweep of Miami (Ohio) over the weekend.

After drawing a walk Tuesday against the Vols, Phillips went 2-for-3 with a homer, a double and four RBIs in ETSU’s 7-5 win over the RedHawks on Friday. The junior from St. Louis, Mo., followed that up with a three-run home run in Saturday’s 6-5 win, ultimately providing the winning run, and went 3-for-5 with two doubles and another three RBIs in Sunday’s series finale, an 11-10 Bucs win.

ETSU (10-7) heads to Morehead State for a Tuesday contest before opening SoCon play at Mercer (11-11) this weekend in Macon, Ga.

Also nominated: Stephen Windham (The Citadel), Brandy Elmy (Furman), Matt Meeder (Mercer), Hunter Swilling (Samford), Matt Smith (Western Carolina) and Kody Reudisili (Wofford).

Wofford’s Leftwich struck out 13 batters against one walk in just six innings of work in Sunday’s 7-0, seven-inning win over Iona, allowing just four hits. Leftwich struck out at least two batters in each inning, including the side – all looking – in the sixth.

The win improved Leftwich to 3-0 on the season and lowered his ERA to 2.30 on the year. Leftwich, the SoCon’s active leader with 195 career strikeouts, has 48 Ks this season against just five walks in 31 1/3 innings of work. The junior from Phoenix, Ariz., is currently seventh in SoCon history with 10.77 strikeouts per nine innings.

Wofford (16-4) hosts Coppin State for a pair of midweek games on Tuesday and Wednesday before welcoming VMI (4-6) for a three-game set this weekend to open SoCon play.

Also nominated: JP Sears (The Citadel), Jimmy Nesselt (ETSU), Matthew Quarles (Furman), Ryan Clark (UNCG), Alex Ledford (Samford) and Korey Anderson (Western Carolina).

2015 SoCon Players of the Week
Feb. 16    Trey York, ETSU
Feb. 23    Damon Waller, Samford
March 2    Trey York, ETSU
March 9    Zac MacAneney, UNCG
March 16    Kevin Phillips, ETSU

2015 SoCon Pitchers of the Week
Feb. 16    B.J. Nobles, Western Carolina
Feb. 23    Ryan Askew, Mercer
March 2    Adam Scott, Wofford
March 9    Eric Nyquist, Mercer
March 16    Luke Leftwich, Wofford
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