SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Samford designated hitter Brooks Carlson and Western Carolina’s right-handed pitcher Chase Walter have been named the Southern Conference player and pitcher of the week, respectively, for all games April 15-21. The selections were made by the league office.
Starting all four games for the Bulldogs this past week, Carlson went 9-for-16 with two doubles, two home runs and six RBIs, helping to lead the team to a perfect 4-0 record on the week. In Samford’s first game of the week, against Troy, Carlson went 3-for-4, recording one of his doubles, home run and four RBIs of the week. In the doubleheader against UNCG, Carlson went 6-for-9 with a home run, a double and two RBIs to help lead Samford to the sweep.
Carlson leads the league in batting average (.404), hits (61), doubles (16) and is tied for first with Mercer’s Kel Johnson in total bases with 99.
The Bulldogs (29-11, 11-1 SoCon) welcome Alabama A&M (13-29) on Tuesday and Troy (21-19) on Wednesday before traveling to Spartanburg, South Carolina, to take on the Wofford Terriers (24-17, 7-4) in a conference weekend series.
Also nominated: Jackson Greer (ETSU), Collin Price (Mercer), Austin Embler (UNCG), Callen Nuccio (VMI), Matthew Koehler (Western Carolina) and Brett Rodriguez (Wofford).
Tossing his second career complete game, Walter recorded a career-high 17 strikeouts in the Catamounts’ win over Furman on Saturday. His 17 strikeouts are the most by a pitcher in the SoCon so far this spring and is the second-most in a single-game by a pitcher in the NCAA this spring. The redshirt sophomore opened the game by retiring seven straight Furman batters before limiting the Paladins to just one run on six hits and finished out the game by retiring eight in a row with six strikeouts. The Peachtree City, Georgia, native has recorded 30 strikeouts over his last two starts.
Walter is currently second in the league in strikeouts (78). He was also named one of College Baseball National Players of the Week.
The Catamounts (17-18, 6-9) welcome in-state rival UNC Asheville (13-25) for a midweek matchup on Wednesday before welcoming the VMI Keydets (10-30, 5-10) to Cullowhee, North Carolina, to continue conference play.
Also nominated: Micah Kazcor (ETSU), Nick Spear (Mercer), Austin Koehn (UNCG), Zach Hester (Samford), Jacob Menders (VMI) and Austin Higginbotham (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
April 1 Jabari Richards, Furman
April 8 Zach Budzik, UNCG
April 15 Hudson Byorick, Wofford
April 22 Brooks Carlson, 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 Zak Kent, VMI
March 25 Shane Connolly, The Citadel
April 1 Austin Higginbotham, Wofford
April 8 Zak Kent, VMI
April 15 Tanner Hall, Mercer
April 22 Chase Walter, Western Carolina
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