FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Gardner-Webb senior third baseman Justin Loyd (Louisburg, N.C.) has been selected as the Big South Conference Choice Hotels Baseball Player of the Week, while Coastal Carolina sophomore Cody Wheeler (Spotsylvania, Va.) has been named New Balance Pitcher of the Week for games played March 2-8, it was announced today by the League office.
Loyd was red hot at the plate in last week’s four games, helping the Bulldogs to a three-game sweep of Big South foe Presbyterian. He batted .611 (11-18) with a .611 on-base percentage and .889 slugging clip. Loyd tallied five doubles, knocked in six runs and had three three-hit games. He opened the week with a 3-4 effort and a double at No. 2 North Carolina, then went 3-5 with two runs and two RBI in the series opener against Presbyterian. Loyd went 2-4 in game two against the Blue Hose and helped Gardner-Webb finish the sweep with a 3-5 day on Sunday, including two runs, two doubles and three runs batted in. Loyd also batted .800 with runners in scoring position (4-5) and hit .625 (5-8) when batting with two outs.
Wheeler was unstoppable in Coastal Carolina’s 9-0 win over Stony Brook Friday night, allowing one hit in seven innings of work. He gave up just a one-out single in the third inning, and did not allow a runner past first base all night. Wheeler struck out five, permitted just three base runners overall, and retired the final eight batters he faced. Wheeler’s line last week: 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R/ER, 2 BB, 5 SO, .050 opponents’ batting average.
Other Baseball Player of the Week Nominees: Patrick Dolan (Charleston Southern), Tyler Bortnick (Coastal Carolina), Doug Bream (Liberty), Gabe Grammer (Presbyterian), Jeff Kemp (Radford), Justin Schumer (UNC Asheville), Sam Roberts (VMI) and Bryn Henderson (Winthrop).
Other Baseball Pitcher of the Week Nominees: Patrick Dolan (Charleston Southern), Ryan Maxa (Gardner-Webb), Mike Caldwell (High Point), Mark Swanson (Liberty), Matt Edwards (VMI) and Ken Monteith (Winthrop).
2009 Players of the Week
Feb. 23 – John Murrian, Winthrop
March 3 – Reed Kreiser, UNC Asheville
March 9 – Justin Loyd, Gardner-Webb
2009 Pitchers of the Week
Feb. 23 – Austin Fleet, Coastal Carolina
March 3 – Michael Bogaert, UNC Asheville & Keith Hessler, Coastal Carolina
March 9 – Cody Wheeler, Coastal Carolina
