SPARTANBURG, S.C. – UNC Greensboro catcher Delaney Cumbie and Furman right-hander Sierra Tufts have been named the Southern Conference softball player and pitcher of the week, respectively, for games from Feb. 28 to March 6. The awards are selected by the league office.
 
Cumbie, UNCG’s third straight player of the week, hit .438 with eight runs scored, five RBIs and a 1.063 slugging percentage last week in games against No. 12 Oregon, Connecticut, Penn State and North Carolina. Against the Ducks on Thursday, the senior from Dunn, North Carolina, was 2-for-5 on the day, with her solo home run in the bottom of the eighth extending the game after Oregon had scored first in extra innings. At the Carolina Classic in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, she was hit by a pitch and scored a run against UConn in Friday’s 6-2 win. The next day, Cumbie hit a two-run homer and added a sacrifice fly as the Spartans topped Penn State 5-1. On Sunday, she again tormented the Nittany Lions, hitting a solo homer and scoring three times. In the tournament finale against the host Tar Heels, she was 3-for-4 with a run scored, reaching base five times on the day in an 8-7 setback.
 
Tufts went 2-0 with a 2.76 ERA last week, picking up wins over Jacksonville State and Mississippi State at the Bulldog Invitational in Starkville, Mississippi. Against JSU on Friday, the sophomore from Chula Vista, California, allowed four runs on five hits and four walks in 5 2/3 innings to pick up the 6-4 win. She struck out four. The next day, Tufts notched her team-leading fourth complete game of the season, surrendering just one run, four hits and four walks and striking out two as the Paladins topped the Bulldogs 3-1 for their first win over an SEC squad since 2013. Tufts retired the final eight batters she faced against Mississippi State. On the week, she allowed just one extra-base hit and an opposing batting average of .200 in 12 2/3 innings of work.
 
UNCG (12-6) hosts Boston College on Tuesday and welcomes Michigan State, Saint Francis (Pa.) and Delaware State for the Spartan Classic from Thursday-Sunday. Furman (9-9) heads to Tallahassee, Florida, to take on No. 3 Florida State on Tuesday and Florida A&M on Wednesday before a three-game set at No. 24 UCF in Orlando over the weekend.
 
Other nominees for player of the week: Emily Bartlett (Furman), Alyssa Woods (Mercer), Mary Katherine Tedder (Samford) and Acelynn Sellers (Chattanooga).
 
Other nominees for pitcher of the week: Hannah Pitts (Mercer) and Morgan Scott (UNCG).
 
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
March 7            Delaney Cumbie, Sr., C, 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
March 7            Sierra Tufts, So., Furman