SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Citadel’s first baseman Ben Peden and UNCG right-hander Austin Koehn have been named the Southern Conference player and pitcher of the week, respectively, for all games May 13-18. The selections were made by the league office.
Peden helped lead the Bulldogs to a 2-1 record on the week. He hit safely in all four games and went 8-for-14 with two RBIs, three runs scored and four base on balls. The senior started off the week by going 2-for-3 with an RBI and an pair of walks against the College of Charleston and ending the week going 5-for-8 with three doubles in The Citadel’s two victories against Western Carolina.
Also nominated: Collin Price (Mercer), Caleb Webster (UNCG), Sonny DiChiara (Samford), Ryan Smoot (VMI), Matthew Koehler (Western Carolina) and Andrew Orzel (Wofford).
The Spartan’s Koehn picked up his fourth win of the season after striking out six and allowing just one hit in seven innings against Wofford. He held opposing hitters to a .043 batting average in the game. This is the eight time that the freshman from Bel Air, Maryland, has recorded at least five strikeouts for the Spartans.
Also nominated: Cameron Reeves (The Citadel), Landon Knack (ETSU), Sawyer Gipson-Long (Mercer), Taylor Purus (Western Carolina), Hamp Skinner (Samford), Jacob Menders (VMI) and Reecce Maniscalco (Wofford).
Both teams will compete in the 2019 SoCon baseball tournament this coming week from May 21-26 in Greenville, South Carolina. No. 9 seed The Citadel (12, 42, 5-19 SoCon) will face the No. 8 seed Western Carolina (20-30, 8-16 SoCon) on Tuesday morning. No. 3 seed UNCG (33-17, 14-10 SoCon) will face No. 6 seed ETSU (27-33, 11-13) on Wednesday afternoon at 4 p.m.
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
April 29 Hudson Byorick, Wofford
May 6 Dax Roper, Furman
May 13 Austin Embler, UNCG
May 19 Ben Peden, The Citadel
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
April 29 David Dunlavey, Furman
May 6 Zach Hester, Samford
May 13 Micah Kaczor, ETSU
May 19 Austin Koehn, UNCG
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