SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Mercer outfielder Jackson Cherry and ETSU right-hander Nathanial Tate have been named the Southern Conference player and pitcher of the week, respectively, for all competition from May 8-14. The awards are selected by the league office.
 
Cherry hit .600, slugged 1.500 and had an on-base percentage of .667 over the weekend to help Mercer to a road sweep of Wofford. The redshirt sophomore scored four times and drove in five runs in the series, also drawing a pair of intentional walks. The Forest, Virginia, native opened his big weekend with a 3-for-3 effort in Friday’s opener, hitting a solo home run in the third inning and adding a two-run shot in the fourth before singling in the seventh to tie his career high for hits in a game. He would later come around to score his third run of the evening and was intentionally walked in the eighth as Mercer went on to win 10-6. The following day, Cherry was 2-for-4 as the Bears clinched the series with a 10-8 win. In Sunday’s finale, Cherry hit a two-run home run in the sixth and was intentionally walked again in the eighth as Mercer won 8-4, saddling Wofford with its first SoCon sweep since 2016.
 
The sweep gave Mercer (31-20, 13-5 SoCon) control of its own destiny in the race for the SoCon regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming SoCon Baseball Championship presented by Holston Gases. Alone atop the league standings, the Bears cap their regular season with a four-game homestand, hosting Georgia Tech on Tuesday before welcoming second-place Samford (29-22, 12-6) for a three-game series to decide the regular season.
 
Tate earned his fourth weekly SoCon accolade of the season after allowing just two earned runs on four hits and three walks, striking out 11 in nine innings in ETSU’s 7-4 win at VMI on Friday. After retiring the first six batters of the game, a pair of ETSU errors in the third allowed VMI to get on the board, but Tate went back to work shutting down one of the top offenses in all of NCAA Division I, retiring 11 straight after yielding a leadoff walk in the fourth. The Keydets, whose high-octane offense entered the series ranked third in DI in batting average, finally got to Tate for a pair of earned runs in the ninth, but the senior from Manchester, Tennessee, responded with a pair of strikeouts and a flyout to close the book on his third complete game of the 2023 campaign. For his efforts, Tate was also named one of Collegiate Baseball’s National Players of the Week, powered by Diamond Sports, for the second time this season (April 24).
 
ETSU (23-26, 8-10), which has won its last three SoCon series to move into fifth place in the SoCon standings, closes its season at home, hosting UNCG (21-30, 8-10) for three games, starting Thursday evening.
 
Also nominated for player of the week: Sawyer Reeves (The Citadel), Cameron Sisneros (ETSU), Kennedy Jones (UNCG), Josh Rodriguez (Samford), Zac Morris (VMI), Pascanel Ferreras (Western Carolina) and Trey Yunger (Wofford).
 
Also nominated for pitcher of the week: Gant Starling (The Citadel), Ryan Lobus (Mercer), Jacob Cravey (Samford), Trey Morgan (VMI), Cole Beverlin (Western Carolina) and Luke Stephens (Wofford).
 
 
2023 SoCon Players of the Week
Feb. 20        Ryan Galanie, Sr., 1B, Wofford
Feb. 27        Zac Morris, R-Jr., SS, VMI
March 6       David Wiley, So., OF, Wofford
March 13      Ryan Galanie, Sr., 1B, Wofford
March 20      Justin Starke, R-Jr., 3B, VMI
March 27      Stephen Klein, Sr., 1B, Samford
April 3          Dosi Jonas, Jr., DH, UNCG
April 10        Cole Jenkins, Jr., 3B, VMI
April 17        Trey Yunger, Sr., OF, Wofford
April 24        Carter Sanford, Jr., C, Mercer
May 1          John Anderson, Jr., DH, Samford
May 8          Cameron Sisneros, Jr., 1B, ETSU
May 15         Jackson Cherry, R-So., OF, Mercer
 
2023 SoCon Pitcher of the Week
Feb. 20        Josh Harlow, So., RHP, Mercer
Feb. 27        Carson Hobbs, Jr., RHP, Samford
March 6       Nathanial Tate, Sr., RHP, ETSU
March 13      Josh Farmer, R-Sr., RHP, Mercer
March 20      Nathanial Tate, Sr., RHP, ETSU
March 27      Nick Torres, Gr., RHP, Western Carolina
April 3          Colton Cosper, So., LHP, Mercer
April 10        Cameron Reeves, Gr., RHP, The Citadel
April 17        Will Riley, R-So., RHP, VMI
April 24        Nathanial Tate, Sr., RHP, ETSU
May 1          Mike Eggert, Jr., RHP, Wofford
May 8          Gant Starling, Sr., RHP, The Citadel
May 15         Nathanial Tate, Sr., RHP, ETSU