PBC Players of the Week for April 7

4/7/2025 3:00:13 PM

Softball

Player of the Week - Carleigh Knowles, North Georgia (Fr., C, Hawkinsville, Ga.)

Knowles earns her fourth weekly honor this season (twice Freshman of the Week and now twice Player of the Week) after hitting .600 with a 1.667 slugging percentage in five games last week
In a three-game sweep of GCSU, she hit .700 with five home runs and 11 RBIs...homered twice in the opener with three driven in, had one in the second game and two more in the third, driving in four in each game
Is tied for the lead in NCAA Division II with 17 home runs on the season...also leads the league in slugging percentage, RBIs and OPS...is third in batting average and fourth in doubles

Pitcher of the Week - Madison Murphy, USC Beaufort (Jr., Decatur, Ala.)

Made three appearances and went 2-0 in 15.2 innings of work with a 0.89 ERA, five hits allowed and 21 strikeouts...held batters to a .106 batting average with four walks and two earned runs allowed
Pitched a complete-game, one-hit shutout over Columbus State with three walks and seven strikeouts...also pitched 1.2 innings of relief against CSU with no hits or walks and three strikeouts...set a career-high with 11 strikeouts against Edward Waters in a complete-game effort
Currently ranked fourth in the PBC in opponent batting average, eighth in strikeouts and 10th in ERA

Freshman of the Week - Pyper McCard, Georgia Southwestern (Fr., P, Ashburn, Ga.)

Went 2-0 in the circle last week with a 0.58 ERA in 12 innings pitched...won games against Savannah State and Lander, both on the road
Pitched a complete-game, one-hit shutout against Savannah State with no walks and two strikeouts...gave up one earned run to Lander on six hits with no walks...retired the final seven Bearcats in order to finish the game
Currently ninth in the PBC in ERA and opponent batting average

Baseball

Player of the Week - Braeden Smith, Georgia College & State University (So., 1b, Statham, Ga.)

Hit .667 with a 1.200 slugging percentage in four games last week with two home runs and 11 RBIs...hit .636 in a three-game sweep of USC Aiken with a home run and seven RBIs...also scored 10 runs and had a .750 on-base percentage
Went 3-for-4 with a double, a home run and four RBIs midweek against Southern Wesleyan...doubled and drove in two in the opener against the Pacers...went 2-for-3 in the finale against USCA with a home run and four RBIs
Leads the Peach Belt in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage and OPS...is third in RBIs and home runs, second in doubles and fourth in runs scored

Pitcher of the Week - Ben Stubbs, Flagler (Jr., Macon, Ga.)

Pitched six innings against Claflin with two hits and no earned runs allowed...striking out 10 of the 24 batters he faced to get the win
Retired the final five batters he faced in order...held batters to a .100 average
Currently ranked second in the PBC with a 2.60 ERA....also third in the conference in strikeouts and sixth in opponent batting average

Freshman of the Week - Hunter Thompson, USC Aiken (Fr., 1b, Evans, Ga.)

Hit .375 over four games last week with two home runs and 10 RBIs...hit .454 in three games against GCSU
Singled and drove in a run in USCA's 8-7 win over #9 Catawba...hit two home runs and drove in six in the opener against the Bobcats...the six RBIs is tied for third-highest in a game in the PBC this season
Currently fourth in the PBC in RBIs...also tied for eighth in home runs

Women's Golf

Golfer of the Week - Henriette Stranda, Flagler (Jr., Kråkstad, Norway)

Finished in a tie for sixth at the 14-team Lynn Invitational, shooting rounds of 71-70-75 to finish even-par 216
Earned her eighth top-10 finish in eight events played this season...had nine birdies and 38 pars in 54 holes
Currently ranked #7 in the nation by Scoreboard...leads the PBC with a 71.64 stroke average...has played 15 of her 22 competitive rounds at or under par

Men's Tennis

Player of the Week - Pedro Lioborio, North Georgia (Jr., Caldas da Rainha, Portugal)

Scored the clinching point in UNG's 4-3 win over #24 Lander...rallied after losing the first set to beat #70 Harry Pugh 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 at #1 singles
Also won in doubles with partner Janos Varga to beat Lander's Bellet and Danielsson 6-3 at #2 doubles
Scored his first victory over a nationally-ranked opponent...improved to 7-3 in singles play, including a 2-1 mark in conference, all at #1 singles...is 9-3 (3-0 in PBC) in doubles

Women's Tennis

Player of the Week - Mariana Ramirez, Columbus State (Grad., Pereira, Colombia)

Went 3-0 in singles and 2-1 in doubles as CSU went 3-0 as a team with wins over Valdosta State, Georgia Southwestern and #3 Flagler
Defeated #44 Anastasia Nikolova of Flagler 6-2, 6-4 at #2 singles in a match CSU won 4-3...also had straight-sets wins over VSU's Alysson Novoa and GSW's Monique Gundrum...partnered with Nikoline Gullacksen to beat Flagler's #5-ranked team of Dana Heimen and Nikolova 6-3 at #1 doubles
Ranked 42nd in singles and 17th in doubles by the ITA...is 8-3 in dual match singles, including 3-0 in the PBC

Men's Track & Field

Track Athlete of the Week - K'Anthony Benjamin, Embry-Riddle (Sr., Sandy Point, St. Kitts)

Anthony ran the fastest 100m and 200m in the PBC this season at the Running Elements Classic
Set an NCAA provisional mark in the 200 with a time of 21.11, setting an ERAU program record and tied for fifth-fastest in PBC history
Ran the third-fastest 100 in program history with a time of 10.50

Field Athlete of the Week - Antonio Caito, Embry-Riddle (Jr., Indianapolis, Ind.)

Continues to shatter records in the triple jump as he once again set PBC and ERAU records with a leap of 15.78m at the Running Elements Invitational
That leap is the longest in NCAA Division II this season and bests the NCAA provisional mark by more than a meter
Won the triple jump against 11 other competitors, his seventh top-three finish in the triple jump this year (combining indoor and outdoor) and fourth victory

Women's Track & Field

Track Athlete of the Week - Taylor Roth, Embry-Riddle (So., Minster, Ohio)

Won the 800m at the Running Elements Classic with a personal-best time of 2:09.35
That time is the fastest in the PBC this season and 15th-fastest in NCAA Division II this year
Won the event against 75 competitors

Field Athlete of the Week - Maxi Kirschner, Embry-Riddle (Sr., Munich, Germany)

Won the javelin at the Running Elements Classic with a throw of 44.47 meters...is her fourth straight meet with a throw of 41 meters or more
Was the fourth-longest throw in ERAU program history as she passed the NCAA provisional mark for the third time this season
Holds the PBC top mark at 46.45 which is 12th in NCAA Division II

Men's Lacrosse

Offensive Player of the Week - Zane Dalpe, Lander (Sr., Attack, Windsor, Ontario)

Scored five goals and added an assist as Lander upset #19 Montevallo 16-13 in the conference opener for both teams
UM led the game 6-1 when Dalpe scored two straight goals and assisted on another as Lander came back to tie 6-6...scored three goals in the third quarter as Lander took a 12-11 lead...added one ground ball
Leads the PBC in goals per game, is third in assists per game and second in points per game

Defensive Player of the Week - Gordon Ogden III, Flagler (Sr., D, Shrewsbury, N.J.)

Had six ground balls as Flagler opened conference play with a 17-11 win over Alabama-Huntsville
Guided a Flagler defense that has allowed 11 or fewer goals in 11 of 12 games this season including 10 in a row
Currently ranked fourth in the PBC in ground balls per game...Flagler leads the PBC in fewest goals allowed

Peach Belt Conference