BASEBALL: Bryan’s Justice, Vanderbilt’s Leiter named TSWA Players of the Week
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Bryan College’s Jacob Justice and Vanderbilt’s Jack Leiter earned Tennessee Sports Writers Association’s Baseball Player and Pitcher of the Week honors, respectively, for games from April 5-11.
Justice batted .600 (6-for-10) with four home runs, 10 RBIs and four runs scored in three games for the Lions.
The Ringgold, Ga., native posted an RBI single and a two-run homer in a midweek contest at Martin Methodist. He was 3-for-3 with two home runs and six RBIs in the first of two games versus St. Andrews University, including a solo shot and a grand slam as well as an RBI single.
In the series finale Justice provided the first run for the Lions with a solo homer in a 2-1 victory. For the season he is hitting .284 with five doubles, nine home runs, 27 RBIs and 26 runs scored in 30 contests.
Leiter tossed seven innings against Georgia, allowing one run on three hits with three walks and 13 strikeouts. He exited with the game tied at one.
The Summit, N.J., native retired 10 of the first 13 batters of the game and did not give up a hit until two outs in the fourth inning. He struck out 13 of the 27 batters he faced while recording multiple punchouts in five of his seven frames of work.
Leiter is holding SEC batters to a .065 average against across his 29.0 innings of work in conference play. He has recorded double-digit strikeouts in five of his eight starts this season, including all four of his starts in SEC play. He owns a 0.55 ERA (3 ER/49.0 IP) for the year, including a 0.62 mark (2 ER/29.0 IP) in league action.
2021 TSWA BASEBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
February 23 – Andrew Keene, Lincoln Memorial (Player); Gunner Becker, Tusculum University (Pitcher)
March 2 – Dominic Keegan, Vanderbilt (Player); Joshua South, Belmont (Pitcher)
March 10 – Fuzzy Furr, Tusculum University (Player); Elijah Pleasants, Tennessee (Pitcher)
March 16 – Isaiah Thomas, Vanderbilt (Player); Kumar Rocker, Vanderbilt (Pitcher)
March 23 – Liam Spence, Tennessee (Player); Jack Leiter, Vanderbilt (Pitcher)
March 30 – Drew Gilbert, Tennessee (Player); Jack Leiter, Vanderbilt (Pitcher)
April 6 – John Behrends, Belmont (Player); Aaron Brown, Middle Tennessee (Pitcher)