SPARTANBURG, S.C. – VMI outfielder Tyler Tharp and Citadel left-hander JP Sears have been named the Southern Conference player and pitcher of the week, respectively, for all games from May 1-7. The selections are made by the league office.
VMI's Tharp hit .529 and slugged 1.294 last week as the Keydets went 2-2 with a series win over UNCG. The senior from Virginia Beach, Virginia, hit four home runs and a double among his nine hits on the week. He had six RBIs and scored five runs.
Against VCU on Tuesday, Tharp was 2-for-4 with a run scored. In Friday's opener against the Spartans, he went 3-for-4 with four RBIs on three homers, becoming the first league player to hit three round-trippers in a contest this season and the first VMI player to do so in 21 years.
Tharp had an RBI and another three hits, including a double, in VMI's series-clinching, 8-7 win on Saturday, before closing the series with a solo homer in Sunday's 8-5 loss.
The weekly award is the first of Tharp's career.
VMI (20-27, 6-12 SoCon) will face Furman (25-22, 12-9) this weekend to close out the road portion of its regular-season schedule.
Also nominated: Jeffery Brown (The Citadel), Hagen Owenby (ETSU), Carter Grote (Furman), Andrew Moritz (UNCG), Troy Dixon (Samford), Caleb Robinson (Western Carolina) and Cody Miller (Wofford).
The Citadel's Sears picked up his third weekly honor of the season and fifth of his career with a two-hit complete game against ETSU on Saturday. Sears allowed one run and struck out 13 batters against just two walks as the Bulldogs claimed the series with his 4-1 win.
Sears retired the game's first 10 batters before ETSU's Christian Bailey reached on an error with one out in the fourth. The junior from Sumter, South Carolina, did not allow his first hit until the fifth, but Cullen Smith's single was erased on a double play.
Sears had faced just two batters over the minimum heading into the eighth, but a walk, hit batter, sacrifice and groundout got the Bucs on the board.
The double-digit strikeout effort was Sears' fifth of the season and ninth of his career. He struck out at least two batters in five innings. Sears, who ranks third in NCAA Division I with 115 strikeouts on the year, has pitched at least seven innings in eight of his 11 starts this season, including a pair of complete games.
The Citadel (14-30, 5-13 SoCon) heads to Greensboro, North Carolina, to face UNCG (28-18, 11-7) for a three-game set starting Friday.
Also nominated: Ryan Simpler (ETSU), Will Gaddis (Furman), Wyatt Burns (Samford), Josh Winder (VMI), Korey Anderson (Western Carolina) and Austin Higginbotham (Wofford).
2017 SoCon Players of the Week
Feb. 20 Chris Cook, ETSU
Feb. 27 Charlie Madden, Mercer
March 6 Will Malbon, VMI
March 13 Austin Embler, UNCG
March 20 JT Thomas, Mercer
March 27 Charlie Madden, Mercer
April 3 Bryson Bowman, Western Carolina
April 10 Taylor Garris, Samford
April 17 JT Thomas, Mercer
April 24 Matt Smith, Western Carolina
May 1 Carson Waln, Wofford
May 8 Tyler Tharp, VMI
2017 SoCon Pitchers of the Week
Feb. 20 Matt Frisbee, UNCG
Feb. 27 JP Sears, The Citadel
March 6 Adam Scott, Wofford
March 13 Bryan Sammons, Western Carolina
March 20 Blake Smith, ETSU
March 27 JP Sears, The Citadel
April 3 Josh Winder, VMI
April 10 Ryan Askew, Mercer
April 17 Matthew Quarles, Furman
April 24 Robert Broom, Mercer
May 1 Stephen Jones, Samford
May 8 JP Sears, The Citadel
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