SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Samford designated hitter Austin Edens and UNCG right-hander Ryan Clark have been named the Southern Conference player and pitcher of the week, respectively, for all games April 13-19. The selections are made by the league office.

Samford’s Edens hit .471 and slugged 1.471 in leading the Bulldogs to four wins last week. The freshman from Baton Rouge, La., hit at least one home run in each game, including two in the middle game of Samford’s three-game conference sweep of ETSU. Edens, who had two hits and at least two RBIs in each contest, scored eight runs and drove in nine.

In Samford’s 13-2 win over Troy on Tuesday, Edens was 2-for-5 with a double and a homer, scoring twice. In Friday’s opener against ETSU, a 15-4 Samford win, Edens again had a double and a homer, scoring three times. Edens drove in three runs with his two round-trippers in Saturday’s first game, an 8-4 win, and he closed his weekend with a homer and a single in Samford’s 7-4 win in game two of the doubleheader. Edens also drew a walk in each game against ETSU.

Samford, which has won seven straight games to move to the top of the SoCon standings at 21-17 overall and 9-3 in league play, hosts Alabama State on Tuesday before heading to Spartanburg, S.C., for a three-game set at Wofford (28-13, 6-5 SoCon) over the weekend.

Also nominated: Connor Walsh (The Citadel), Landon Kay (Furman), Matt Winn (VMI), Matt Smith (Western Carolina) and Conor Clancey (Wofford).

UNCG’s Clark threw a two-hit shutout against The Citadel on Friday, picking up a 5-0 win in front of an ESPN3 audience in Greensboro, N.C.

Clark (6-3), the preseason SoCon Pitcher of the Year, walked just two and matched his career high with 10 strikeouts. The junior from Johnson City, N.Y., faced just five batters over the minimum and retired 12 consecutive batters at one point between the fourth and eighth innings in his second career complete game. His two hits allowed were singles in the third and fourth.

UNCG (17-18, 8-7 SoCon) hosts rival Elon on Tuesday and then heads to Macon, Ga., for a three-game SoCon series at Mercer (23-16, 10-4 SoCon) over the weekend.

Also nominated: James Reeves (The Citadel), Will Gaddis (Furman), Parker Curry (Samford), Taylor Edens (VMI), B.J. Nobles (Western Carolina) and Adam Scott (Wofford).

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
March 23    Kyle Lewis, Mercer
March 30    Austin Edens, Samford
April 6    Conor Clancey, Wofford
April 13    Matt Smith, Western Carolina
April 20    Austin Edens, Samford

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
March 23    Eric Nyquist, Mercer
March 30    Grant Papelian, Mercer
April 6    James Reeves, The Citadel
April 13    Grant Schuermann, Furman
April 20    Ryan Clark, UNCG

-www.SoConSports.com-