Monday, March 12, 2012

MACON, Ga. – North Florida's Tyler Marincov and Mercer's Brandon Barker picked up the Atlantic Sun Conference Baseball weekly honors, announced Monday by the league office. Marincov helped the Ospreys to a 4-0 week behind his league-leading batting average, while Barker tossed a gem on the road vs. No. 23 Mississippi State in a 6-1 win.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Tyler Marincov, North Florida (OF – So. – Orlando, Fla. – Criminal Justice)

• First Career A-Sun Player of the Week award
• Batted .556 on the week with 10 hits, five runs scored and six RBI
• Helped Ospreys to 4-0 week with three-game sweep of South Alabama
• Recorded multi-hit games in three contests and hit safely in all four contests
• Improved league-leading batting average to .483

• Zak Messer (1B, Lipscomb) - Opened weekend with f-for-4 game with two homers including a grand slam
• Nick Backlund (DH, Mercer) - Batted .471 with two homers including one at No. 23 Mississippi State in 6-1 win
• Matthew Scruggs (OF, ETSU) - Completed a 5-for-5 day on Sunday with two homer, five runs scored and five RBI
• Tyler Cook (OF, USC Upstate) - Finished the week with a .455 average and three runs scored
• Dylan Craig (OF, Belmont) - Helped Bruins to wins vs Vanderbilt, Auburn and Murray State with a .333 batting average
• Andrew Valencia (C/DH, FGCU) - Drove in five runs and scored twice at No. 1 Florida in a three-game set
• Chris McGowan (RF, Kennesaw State) - Went 6-for-16 in four contests including two comeback wins

• First Career A-Sun Pitcher of the Week
• Pitched Mercer to a 6-1 win vs. No. 23 Mississippi State on Saturday
• Held the Bulldogs to six hits in eight innings of work
• Finished with only one earned run and one strikeout on the road
• Marked Mercer's second victory vs. Top-25 Team in the past two seasons

• Jason Forjet (RHP, FGCU) - Struck out seven batters at No. 1 Florida in 6.1 innings of work
• Jake Long (RHP, ETSU) - Picked up first collegiate victory on Sunday vs. La Salle
• Lindsey Caughel (SP, Stetson) - Established a new career-high with 10 strikeouts in 3-0 win vs. Harvard
• Austin Cooley (RP, Belmont) - Allowed only one hit in two appearances to help Bruins defeat Vanderbilt and Murray State
• James Connell (P, Kennesaw State) - Earned back-to-back wins in comeback victories for the Owls
• Brandon Lee (P, USC Upstate) - Tossed seven innings vs Valparaiso with five hits and only two runs in the win
• Evan Stermer (LHP, North Florida) - Hurled 5.1 scoreless innings with only two hits allowed; earned win vs South Alabama