SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Samford outfielder Heath Quinn and Citadel left-hander JP Sears have been named the Southern Conference player and pitcher of the week, respectively, for all games Feb. 19-21. The selections are made by the league office.
Samford’s Quinn opened his season by hitting .625 in the Bulldogs’ four-game sweep of Butler. The junior from Birmingham, Ala., was nearly impossible to retire in his first two contests, going 4-for-5 with a double, a home run, three runs scored and two driven in in Friday’s opener before one-upping that with a 5-for-5 effort in which he hit for the cycle in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader. He drove in five runs in that contest and scored three.
Quinn, a preseason All-American, added his third homer of the young season in the second game of the doubleheader, going 1-for-4 with a crucial two-run blast in the only close game of the series, a 4-3 Samford win. Butler finally kept him out of the hit column in Sunday’s finale, but Quinn drew three walks and scored twice as Samford completed the sweep.
Samford (4-0) welcomes BYU to Birmingham for a four-game set starting Thursday.
Also nominated: Stephen Windham (The Citadel), Kevin Phillips (ETSU), Jake Crawford (Furman), Jose Hernandez (Mercer), Michael Goss (UNCG), David Geary (VMI), Garrett Brown (Western Carolina) and Brett Hash (Wofford).
The Citadel’s Sears opened the season Friday with five innings of two-hit ball against Virginia Tech to lead the Bulldogs to the 4-2 win. Sears allowed just a pair of singles and one walk in his fantastic outing, striking out a career-high 12 of the 19 batters he faced.
The sophomore left-hander from Sumter, S.C., was only in trouble once, as he allowed a single and a walk after a strikeout to open the second inning against the Hokies. Sears recovered nicely, striking out the next two batters looking to escape unharmed.
He struck out at least two batters in each of his five innings of work, including the side in the second and fifth innings.
The Citadel, which took two of three from the Hokies, travels to Rock Hill, S.C., to face Winthrop on Tuesday before returning to Charleston, S.C., to host a three-game weekend set with Siena.
Also nominated: Victor Gonzalez (ETSU), Will Gaddis (Furman), Kevin Coulter (Mercer), Bryce Hensley (UNCG), Jared Brasher (Samford), Matthew Eagle (VMI), Bryan Sammons (Western Carolina) and Matthew Milburn (Wofford).
2016 SoCon Players of the Week
Feb. 22 Heath Quinn, Samford
2016 SoCon Pitchers of the Week
Feb. 22 JP Sears, The Citadel
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