NASHVILLE, Tenn. – University of Memphis junior Ian Bibiloni and Vanderbilt’s Jack Leiter earned Tennessee Sports Writers Association’s Baseball Player and Pitcher of the Week honors, respectively, for games from May 10-16.
Bibiloni batted .471 (8-for-17) with three doubles, a home run, six RBIs and four runs scored in four games for the Tigers.
The Lakeland, Tenn., native posted a 4-for-5 performance with three RBIs in the second game of Friday’s doubleheader. He doubled and scored in the first inning and plated two runs with a two-bagger in the second. He reached on a bunt single in the fourth and singled home a run in the seventh.
Bibiloni added three more hits, two runs and two RBIs in the third game of the series with the Cougars, doubling and scoring in the first inning and reaching on another bunt single in the fifth. He also hit a solo homer in the seventh.
He walked and scored at the start of the eighth inning and singled home a run later in the frame for the Tigers in the series finale. Bibiloni is hitting .259 for the season with nine doubles, two homers, 24 RBIs and 24 runs scored in 49 contests.
Leiter struck out 13 and allowed just two hits and one run at 18th-ranked Ole Miss, posting his eighth victory of the season.
The Summit, N.J., native worked around a walk in the first and hit batters in the second and fourth innings. Two free passes, a single and a wild pitch plated the only run for the Rebels against the righthander in the sixth inning.
The contest marked the seventh this year with double-digit strikeouts for Leiter, who leads the SEC in punch outs with 119. He improved to 8-2 with a 2.05 ERA in 70.1 innings this season, giving up just 30 hits with 32 walks. Opponents are batting .126 against him in 12 appearances, all starts.
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)
April 13 – Jacob Justice, Bryan College (Player); Jack Leiter, Vanderbilt (Pitcher)
April 20 – Daulton Martin, Tusculum University (Player); Kumar Rocker, Vanderbilt (Pitcher)
April 27 – Jake Rucker, Tennessee (Player); Kumar Rocker, Vanderbilt (Pitcher)
May 4 – Enrique Bradfield, Vanderbilt (Player); Alex Clouthier, Trevecca University (Pitcher)
May 12 – Shawn Wallwork, Trevecca University (Player); Blake Tidwell, Tennessee (Pitcher)