SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Mercer designated hitter Eric Toth and ETSU right-hander Nathanial Tate have been named the Southern Conference player and pitcher of the week, respectively, for all competition from May 15-20. The awards are selected by the league office and are the final selections of the 2023 season.
 
Toth hit .412 and slugged 1.353 last week, hitting five home runs in four games, driving in six runs and scoring seven en route to earning Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week honors, powered by Diamond Sports. In Tuesday’s 7-6 win over Georgia Tech, Toth went deep twice, hitting solo homers in the second and fifth innings of the six-inning win. The graduate student from Mobile, Alabama, then left the yard in all three games against Samford to close the regular season, starting with him hitting a two-run shot and drawing a walk in Thursday’s 5-4 setback. Toth then hit a solo home run Friday before hitting a double and a solo home run as part of a three-hit day in Saturday’s finale. Toth homered in five straight games to end the regular season, while the Georgia Tech game marked his third multi-homer game of the season.
 
Mercer (32-23) earned the No. 2 seed for this week’s SoCon Baseball Championship presented by Holston Gases at Fluor Field in Greenville, South Carolina. The Bears earned a double bye in the tournament and will take the field Friday at 12:30 p.m. against either No. 3 seed Wofford (37-17), No. 6 seed UNCG (22-32) or No. 7 seed Western Carolina (21-32).
 
Tate earned his fifth weekly SoCon accolade of the season and second straight after throwing a four-hit shutout against UNCG in Thursday’s series opener. The senior from Manchester, Tennessee, allowed just four hits and two walks over nine innings and struck out six in the 6-0 win over the Spartans. Tate did not allow a runner past second in the contest and retired the final seven batters in order, including striking out the last two batters, for his second straight complete game. Tate threw 111 pitches, with 74 of them going for strikes. He is the first player in SoCon history to earn weekly honors five times in a season and is now the SoCon’s career leader with seven selections overall.
 
ETSU (25-27), which has won its last four SoCon series to finish fourth in the SoCon standings, is the No. 4 seed in the SoCon tournament and will face either No. 5 seed VMI (26-28) or No. 8 seed The Citadel (22-29) on Thursday at 3 p.m.
 
The SoCon Baseball Championship presented by Holston Gases gets under way Wednesday at 3 p.m. with VMI taking on The Citadel, followed by UNCG, the defending tournament champion, facing Western Carolina at 7 p.m. SoCon regular-season champion Samford is the top seed and will take the field for its first game on Friday at 9 a.m.
 
Also nominated for player of the week: Cameron Sisneros (ETSU), Kennedy Jones (UNCG), Lucas Steele (Samford), Justin Starke (VMI), Landon Morrison (Western Carolina) and Jack Renwick (Wofford).
 
Also nominated for pitcher of the week: Ben Petschke (Samford), Andrew Jones (VMI) and Charlie Weber (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
May 22         Eric Toth, Gr., DH, 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
May 22         Nathanial Tate, Sr., RHP, ETSU