SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Mercer infielder Angelo DiSpigna and Western Carolina right-handed pitcher Zebby Matthews have been named the Southern Conference player and pitcher of the week, respectively, for all games from April 19-25. The selections are made by the league office.
 
DiSpigna earned his first career player of the week honor after hitting .500 with a double, four home runs, five RBIs and seven runs in Mercer’s four games last week. The sophomore from Lawrenceville, Georgia, opened the week with two runs against Georgia State and led off with a double in Mercer’s 17-4 win over the Panthers. In the three-game series against the Blue Division leader Samford, he hit a home run in each game and had his first career multi-home run game in the last game of the series. He had an on-base percentage of .588 on the week with seven hits and is tied for the SoCon lead with 10 home runs this season. 
 
Mercer (23-16, 10-5 SoCon) travels to Kennesaw, Georgia, for a 6 p.m. opening pitch on Wednesday, April 28, against Kennesaw State before hosting ETSU for its weekend series. The first pitch is set for Friday, April 30, at 6 p.m. The doubleheader is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 1. 
 
Matthews, the first pitcher of the season to earn the weekly honor three times, pitched a complete game, four-hit shutout against ETSU in the 3-0 series-opening victory for Western Carolina on Friday, marking his third career complete game. He tallied seven strikeouts without issuing a walk, hit batter, or a wild pitch and allowed only two baserunners to reach second base. The sophomore from Cullowhee, North Carolina, didn’t allow the Buccaneers a baserunner after the fifth inning and has struck out seven or more batters five times this season, including each of his last three starts for the Catamounts. Matthews ranks fifth in the SoCon with 59 strikeouts and is tied for the conference lead with six wins on the mound. 
 
Western Carolina (21-11, 9-4) will play in-state opponent Elon on Wednesday, April 28, at 7 p.m. before traveling to Greensboro, North Carolina, for its three-game conference series against UNCG (19-19, 6-12).