Baseball Player of the Week: Jeremy Begora, Young Harris
Begora wins his fifth weekly honor of the season and third in the last four weeks as the Mountain Lions extended their winning streak to eight games and took over first place in the PBC standings. The sophomore first baseman from Cartersville, Ga., hit .591 in five games last week with a 1.000 slugging percentage, two home runs, a triple, a double and 14 RBIs. He had multiple hits and multiple RBIs in every game, going 3-for-3 with a home run in a mid-week tilt against Carson-Newman. He hit .600 in a three-game sweep of USC Beaufort with a triple and three RBIs in the opener. He doubled and drove in two more in the second game and homered in the third game with five RBIs. Begora is making a bid to win the PBC triple crown as he leads the league in batting average and RBIs and is second in home runs by one.
Baseball Pitcher of the Week: Mason Bernard, Augusta
Bernard pitched a complete-game shutout of Columbus State in the opener of their three-game series. The senior from Lilburn, Ga., scattered five hits with one walk allowed a three strikeouts in a 1-0 win. He completed the game with just 89 pitches thrown, retiring the first six Cougars he saw in order. He also retired the final 11 CSU batters as Augusta scored their lone run in the top of the ninth. CSU, who is second in the PBC in team batting and runs per game, was held to a .161 batting average and shut out for only the second time this season. Bernard improves to 6-2 on the season and is tied for fourth in the PBC in victories.
Baseball Freshman of the Week: Luke Johnson, Lander
Johnson keeps the PBC Freshman of the Week award in Greenwood for a fourth straight week after he pitched eight innings against Lander in the second game of their doubleheader on Saturday. The righty from Anderson, S.C., took the loss in the 2-1 game with one earned run allowed on four hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Throwing 110 pitches, he retired the side in order in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings. Johnson moves to 2-1 on the season and lowers his ERA to 1.17 with 37.2 innings of work.
For a complete list of baseball weekly award winners, please click here.