University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Photo by: UNC Asheville
Lankford Earns Big South Conference Freshman of the Week Honors
02.27.2017 | Baseball
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – After a stellar week in Spartanburg, UNC Asheville baseball true freshman Brandon Lankford has been named the Big South Conference's Come Ready Nutrition Freshman of the Week, as announced by the conference office Monday afternoon.
Lankford's honor marks the second week in a row that a UNC Asheville freshman has earned the honor and gives UNC Asheville a sweep of the award in the first two weeks of its existence. Last week, fellow true freshman Chris Troost earned the first-ever Come Ready Nutrition Freshman of the Week honors for baseball in the Big South.
"This is well-deserved for Brandon," head baseball coach Scott Friedholm said. "He had a great week all around in Spartanburg and his numbers at the plate speak for themselves. One of the things we're most happy with is the amount of work Brandon has been putting in defensively. Brandon played unbelievably for us at third base this week. Hopefully these accolades keep coming for these young guys. They're going to have plenty of chances to play for us and so far they have been taking advantage of those opportunities."
Lankford, who was also named the Big South Conference Player of the Week by College Sports Madness, led the Bulldogs to a 2-2 record this past week in Spartanburg. Over the course of the Bulldogs' four games, he batted a team-best .389 with an outstanding .833 slugging percentage and .500 on-base percentage. He led the team with four extra base knocks, including two home runs and two doubles.
The third baseman from Mocksville, N.C., had multiple hits in all but one game last week and also had at least one RBI in each game. He scored seven runs himself, including the game-winner Sunday to lift Asheville over Wofford 7-6, and batted in six others.
In the field, he recorded a putout and nine assists for a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage.
In Wednesday's game at USC Upstate, Lankford started the scoring drive for the Bulldogs with a double to score Carmine Pagano, putting Asheville up 1-0.
On Friday against Dayton, his single through the left side to score fellow freshman Kole Harris in the top of the second inning put the Bulldogs ahead of the Flyers for good. He then scored the first of his two runs of that game when Joe Tietjen doubled to left field. His second run of the game came when Tietjen ripped a home run to center field. In the game against the Flyers, Lankford went 2-for-4 at the plate and drew two walks.
In the weekend finale at Wofford, Lankford went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and three runs scored. In the fourth inning, he scored off a Danny Wilson double down the right field line. Then, in the eighth inning, Lankford hit his third home run of the season, second of the week, scoring last week's Big South Come Ready Nutrition Freshman of the Week Troost. He ended his week by scoring the game-winning run in the top of the ninth inning when fellow freshman Joe Gruszka was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
Asheville has two mid-week games on the schedule for this week before opening the home portion of the 2017 slate. The Bulldogs first travel to Cullowhee, N.C., to face Western Carolina on Tuesday, Feb. 28, in the first game of a home-and-home series before traveling to Greenville, S.C., to face Furman on Wednesday, March 1. First pitch of the WCU game is slated for 4 p.m. while first pitch against the Paladins will be at 6 p.m.
This weekend's home-opening series against Iona has been slightly altered. Friday's home-opener will still feature a 3 p.m. first pitch, but Saturday's first pitch has been move up one hour to 1 p.m. Sunday's game, originally slated for 1 p.m. is currently on a to-be-determined status and will be announced Saturday.
Lankford's honor marks the second week in a row that a UNC Asheville freshman has earned the honor and gives UNC Asheville a sweep of the award in the first two weeks of its existence. Last week, fellow true freshman Chris Troost earned the first-ever Come Ready Nutrition Freshman of the Week honors for baseball in the Big South.
"This is well-deserved for Brandon," head baseball coach Scott Friedholm said. "He had a great week all around in Spartanburg and his numbers at the plate speak for themselves. One of the things we're most happy with is the amount of work Brandon has been putting in defensively. Brandon played unbelievably for us at third base this week. Hopefully these accolades keep coming for these young guys. They're going to have plenty of chances to play for us and so far they have been taking advantage of those opportunities."
Lankford, who was also named the Big South Conference Player of the Week by College Sports Madness, led the Bulldogs to a 2-2 record this past week in Spartanburg. Over the course of the Bulldogs' four games, he batted a team-best .389 with an outstanding .833 slugging percentage and .500 on-base percentage. He led the team with four extra base knocks, including two home runs and two doubles.
The third baseman from Mocksville, N.C., had multiple hits in all but one game last week and also had at least one RBI in each game. He scored seven runs himself, including the game-winner Sunday to lift Asheville over Wofford 7-6, and batted in six others.
In the field, he recorded a putout and nine assists for a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage.
In Wednesday's game at USC Upstate, Lankford started the scoring drive for the Bulldogs with a double to score Carmine Pagano, putting Asheville up 1-0.
On Friday against Dayton, his single through the left side to score fellow freshman Kole Harris in the top of the second inning put the Bulldogs ahead of the Flyers for good. He then scored the first of his two runs of that game when Joe Tietjen doubled to left field. His second run of the game came when Tietjen ripped a home run to center field. In the game against the Flyers, Lankford went 2-for-4 at the plate and drew two walks.
In the weekend finale at Wofford, Lankford went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and three runs scored. In the fourth inning, he scored off a Danny Wilson double down the right field line. Then, in the eighth inning, Lankford hit his third home run of the season, second of the week, scoring last week's Big South Come Ready Nutrition Freshman of the Week Troost. He ended his week by scoring the game-winning run in the top of the ninth inning when fellow freshman Joe Gruszka was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
Asheville has two mid-week games on the schedule for this week before opening the home portion of the 2017 slate. The Bulldogs first travel to Cullowhee, N.C., to face Western Carolina on Tuesday, Feb. 28, in the first game of a home-and-home series before traveling to Greenville, S.C., to face Furman on Wednesday, March 1. First pitch of the WCU game is slated for 4 p.m. while first pitch against the Paladins will be at 6 p.m.
This weekend's home-opening series against Iona has been slightly altered. Friday's home-opener will still feature a 3 p.m. first pitch, but Saturday's first pitch has been move up one hour to 1 p.m. Sunday's game, originally slated for 1 p.m. is currently on a to-be-determined status and will be announced Saturday.
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