SPARTANBURG, S.C. – UNC Greensboro first baseman/right fielder Blayke Batten and Samford right-hander Jordan Walters have been named the Southern Conference softball player and pitcher of the week, respectively, for games from Feb. 21-27. The awards are selected by the league office.
 
Batten hit .412 and slugged 1.059 with seven RBIs and five runs scored to lead UNCG to a 4-0 weekend at its own UNCG Invitational and a 4-1 week overall. The junior from Kenly, North Carolina, hit safely in four of five games on the week, starting it with a solo home run in a 4-3 loss at NC State on Tuesday. After going hitless against Loyola Chicago on Friday, Batten rebounded with a 3-for-4 showing against Towson on Saturday, hitting a pair of triples on the day as well as driving in a run and scoring a run. Later that day, she was 1-for-3, scoring twice and hitting a three-run home run. She wrapped up her week with another two-hit effort in a 6-4 win over Virginia on Sunday, hitting a single and a two-run double.
 
Samford’s Walters pitched a complete-game shutout in her only appearance of the week. The sophomore from Tallahassee, Alabama, allowed just two hits and two walks in a 1-0 win over Indiana State on Saturday at Samford’s Bulldog Classic. She allowed just two base-runners to reach second on the day and never allowed multiple base-runners in the same inning. Walters retired the side in order in the second, fourth and sixth innings.
 
UNCG (9-4) hosts No. 9 Oregon on Thursday before heading to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, for the Carolina Classic from Friday-Sunday. Samford (8-4) visits North Alabama for a Tuesday doubleheader before taking part in the Ole Miss Invitational in Oxford, Mississippi, from Friday-Sunday.
 
Other nominees for player of the week: Emily Bartlett (Furman) and Presley Williamson (Chattanooga).
 
Other nominees for pitcher of the week: Sierra Tefts (Furman), Morgan Scott (UNCG) and Brooke Parrott (Chattanooga).
 
2022 SoCon Softball Players of the Week
Feb. 14             Timberlyn Shurbutt, Sr., 3B, Samford
Feb. 21             Jordan Gontram, Gr., DP, UNCG
Feb. 28             Blayke Batten, Jr., 1B/RF, UNCG
 
2022 SoCon Softball Pitchers of the Week
Feb. 14             Jayme Eilers, Jr., Western Carolina
Feb. 21             Brooke Parrott, Jr., Chattanooga
Feb. 28             Jordan Walters, So., Samford