SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Western Carolina outfielder Justice Bigbie and Mercer right-hander Taylor Lobus have been named the Southern Conference player and pitcher of the week, respectively, for all games from Feb. 19-21. The selections are made by the league office. This marks both players’ first player of the week honors.
 
Bigbie opened the Catamount’s 2021 season with a .538 batting average (7-of-13) with four of his seven hits going for extra bases, including a double and three home runs. In Friday’s season opener, the junior went 4-for-5 with a double and a home run in the squad’s 23-1 victory over Towson. He kept his momentum going during Saturday’s doubleheader against the Tigers with a pair of home runs in game one and two runs scored in game two, adding on a walk and hit by pitch. Though he was hitless in the series finale on Sunday, he drove in two runs including one on an infield groundout and what proved to be the game-winning run on a sacrifice fly. The 2019 SoCon Player of the Year and 2021 preseason All-SoCon first-team selection leads the conference with a 1.308 slugging percentage, a .650 on-base percentage, 10 RBIs and three home runs throughout the Catamount’s four-game series against Towson.
 
Western Carolina swept Towson 4-0 over the weekend and returns to the diamond Tuesday at 4 p.m. against UNC Asheville. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.