SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Samford’s outfielder Jordan Fucci and The Citadel’s left-hander Shane Connolly have been named the Southern Conference player and pitcher of the week, respectively, for all games March 18-24. The selections were made by the league office.
Starting all four games for the Bulldogs last week, Fucci hit .611 (11-for-18) at the plate with five doubles, a triple and a home run with three RBIs and seven runs scored. Against No. 2-ranked Mississippi State on Wednesday, the redshirt-junior went 3-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs. In the three-game series sweep of Furman this past weekend, he went a combined 8-for-13 with five doubles and a triple. He had at least two hits in every game last week with his best game of the week coming in game two of the weekend series against Furman when he went 4-for-5 with three doubles.
The Lexington, Kentucky, native is currently third for Samford in batting average (.310), tied for second in runs scored (18) with teammate Anthony Mulrine, is third in hits (26) and doubles (7) and tied for first with teammate Brooks Carlson for triples (1).
Samford (17-6) travels to Birmingham, Alabama, for a midweek contest against the University of Alabama at Birmingham (11-14) on Tuesday before heading to Lexington, Virginia, to battle VMI (5-18) in a conference matchup.
Also nominated: Jeffery Brown (The Citadel), Ethan Shelton (ETSU), Kel Johnson (Mercer), Greg Hardison (UNCG), Callen Nuccio (VMI), Justice Bigbie (Western Carolina) and Mike Brown (Wofford).
The Citadel’s Connolly tossed his second complete-game shutout of the season on Saturday against VMI in the Bulldogs conference-opening series. The sophomore limited the Keydets to just four singles and after giving up two hits in the second inning, did not allow another hit until the seventh inning, only allowed one base runner to reach base. His efforts gave the Bulldogs the 1-0 victory and evened the series, allowing the Bulldogs to take the final game Sunday afternoon and win the series.
The Huntersville, North Carolina, native currently ranks first for The Citadel in ERA (1.25) and opposing batting average (.203) and ranks second in the conference in ERA. This is Connolly’s second time being honored as conference pitcher of the week this season.
The Bulldogs (9-15) are set for an in-state matchup at The College of Charleston (14-10) before traveling to Greensville, South Carolina, to take on conference opponent Furman (5-16), this weekend.
Also nominated: Landon Knack (ETSU), Zach Hester (Samford), Chad Sykes (UNCG), Adam Jewell (VMI), Ryan Mitschele (Western Carolina) and Hayes Heinecke (Wofford).
2019 SoCon Players of the Week
Feb. 18 Jackson Greer, ETSU
Feb. 25 RJ Yeager, Mercer
March 4 Daylan Nanny, Western Carolina
March 11 Immanuel Wilder, Western Carolina
March 18 Kel Johnson, Mercer
March 25 Jordan Fucci, Samford
2019 SoCon Pitchers of the Week
Feb. 18 Shane Connolly, The Citadel
Feb. 25 Jordan Merritt, The Citadel
March 4 Hayes Heinecke, Wofford
March 11 Hayes Heinecke, Wofford
March 18 Zach Kent, VMI
March 25 Shane Connolly, The Citadel
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