BASEBALL: Vanderbilt’s Bleday, Trevecca’s Alsup honored with TSWA weekly accolades
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vanderbilt’s JJ Bleday and Trevecca University’s Cole Alsup were named the Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, by the Tennessee Sports Writers Association for their efforts in contests from April 29-May 5.
Bleday batted .461 (6-for-13) with two home runs, five RBIs and six walks in four games for the Commodores, becoming the program’s single-season leader in homers. The Panama City Beach, Fla., native walked and scored a pair of runs versus Tennessee Tech and belted a two-run homer among his two hits and two runs scored in the first game of a series at South Carolina.
The junior outfielder posted two hits with a two-run triple along with three walks in the second contest versus the Gamecocks. He added two more hits in the series finale, including the game-breaking homer, a solo shot in the seventh, passing the previous mark set by Pedro Alvarez in 2006.
Bleday is batting .349 with nine doubles, 23 homers, 61 RBIs and 61 runs scored along with 40 walks in 48 games this season.
Alsup tossed six scoreless innings, allowing one run with two strikeouts in a victory against the Ohio Valley University. The Mt. Juliet, Tenn., native faced just two batters over the minimum in his six innings of work, inducing a pair of ground-ball doubleplays to offset four walks.
The freshman lefthander has posted a 2-1 mark with a 2.35 ERA in 23.0 innings over the second half of the season, giving up only five hits with seven strikeouts in six appearances.
2019 TSWA BASEBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
February 19 – Lake Burris, Bryan College (Player); Trey Holland, University of the South (Pitcher)
March 1 – JJ Bleday, Vanderbilt (Player); Peyton Wigginton, Middle Tennessee (Pitcher)
March 6 – Aaron Antonini, Middle Tennessee (Player); Chase Douglas, Trevecca University (Pitcher)
March 13 – Ethan Paul, Vanderbilt (Player); Samuel Joiner, Maryville College (Pitcher)
March 21 – Javier Lopez, Trevecca University (Player); Charles Hall, Tusculum University (Pitcher)
March 26 – Stephen Scott, Vanderbilt (Player); Drake Fellows, Vanderbilt (Pitcher)
April 3 – JJ Bleday, Vanderbilt (Player); Mason Hickman, Vanderbilt (Pitcher)
April 9 – Myles Christian, Middle Tennessee (Player); Jordan Davis, Maryville College (Pitcher)
April 16 – Javier Lopez, Trevecca University (Player); Garrett Stallings, Tennessee (Pitcher)
April 24 – Matt Joslin, Austin Peay (Player); Jake Roberson, Trevecca University (Pitcher)
May 1 – Hunter Holland, Belmont (Player); Kumar Rocker, Vanderbilt (Pitcher)