SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Mercer catcher Charlie Madden and Citadel left-hander JP Sears have been named the Southern Conference player and pitcher of the week, respectively, for all games Feb. 20-26. The selections are made by the league office.
Mercer’s Madden hit .438 and slugged 1.125 to lead the Bears to an undefeated week that included a win over Georgia and a three-game weekend sweep of Hartford. The senior from Atlanta, Georgia, hit home runs in three of the four games and added two doubles, eight RBIs and six runs scored.
Against the Bulldogs on Tuesday, Madden hit a solo homer in the fourth inning in an eventual 6-5 Mercer win. In Friday’s opener over Hartford, Madden was 2-for-5 with a pair of singles in the 4-3, 10-inning win. The following day, he stuffed the stat sheet with a solo homer, a two-run double, a sacrifice fly and a walk, scoring three times and driving in four as the Bears won a slugfest, 20-14. Madden capped his big week with another solo home run, a two-run double and a walk in a 2-for-3 effort in Sunday’s 15-6 victory.
The weekly award is the first of Madden’s career.
Mercer (7-0), the last unbeaten in the SoCon, hits the road for the first time this season with a two-game midweek set at Florida A&M before heading to Clarksville, Tennessee, for a three-game weekend series at Austin Peay.
Also nominated: Bryce Leasure (The Citadel), Hunter Parker (ETSU), Michael Goss (UNCG), Kevin Williams Jr. (Samford), Will Malbon (VMI), Matt Smith (Western Carolina) and Reed Massey (Wofford).
The Citadel’s Sears struck out 12 batters and allowed five hits in seven innings Friday to earn his first win of the season, combining with two relievers for a 4-0 shutout of Delaware State. He did not walk a batter.
The junior southpaw got nine of his 12 strikeouts looking and notched double-digit Ks for the fifth time in his career. He struck out two batters each in the second through sixth innings, adding single punch-outs in the first and seventh.
For the season, the Sumter, South Carolina, native is third in the league with 17 strikeouts and has yet to walk a batter in 11 1/3 innings. He leads the SoCon with 12 strikeouts looking.
The weekly award is Sears’ third, as he won twice in 2016.
The Citadel (2-4) hosts Presbyterian on Tuesday before opening up a three-game series with crosstown rival College of Charleston on Friday. The squads will play at CofC on Friday and Sunday and at The Citadel on Saturday.
Also nominated: Drew Korzybski (ETSU), Hunter Baker (Furman), Nick Spear (Mercer), Matt Frisbee (UNCG), Josh Winder (VMI), Bryan Sammons (Western Carolina) and Adam Scott (Wofford).
2017 SoCon Players of the Week
Feb. 20 Chris Cook, ETSU
Feb. 27 Charlie Madden, Mercer
2017 SoCon Pitchers of the Week
Feb. 20 Matt Frisbee, UNCG
Feb. 27 JP Sears, The Citadel
-www.SoConSports.com-