Southeastern Sweeps Southland Baseball Weekly Honors
FRISCO, Texas – Southeastern’s Preston Faulkner and Andrew Landry are the Southland Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, the league announced Monday. Weekly awards are presented by
GEICO.
Faulkner is coming off one of the most prolific weekends of his career, driving in 10 runs in a three-game sweep of HBU to propel the Lions into a tie for first place. Four of his six hits went for extra bases, resulting in an eye-popping 1.300 slugging percentage over the three games.
Landry tossed the 21
st one-hitter in program history, helping secure a series sweep of HBU with a 12-0, run-rule victory on Sunday. He logged career-highs in both innings pitched and strikeouts with seven each and registered the first shutout of his career.
Southeastern (22-25, 12-9 SLC) wraps up the regular season with a challenging stretch beginning at Alex Box Stadium against No. 17 LSU at 6:30 p.m. CT Tuesday. Then, the Lions pay a visit to rival Nicholls for a three-game series, starting with a 6 p.m. first pitch on Friday.
Hitter of the Week – Preston Faulkner, Southeastern – Senior – First Baseman – Denham Springs, La.
In the series opener, Faulkner accounted for three of the team’s first four runs after singling in a run and coming around to score on a Shea Thomas home run. His second trip to the plate saw a sacrifice fly allow Evan Keller to score. Faulkner fueled the heroics in game two, driving in a run on his second double of the night and scoring the tying run in the eighth inning. He also reached base and scored on Thomas’ walk-off blast. Faulkner finished the day 3-for-4 with four runs driven in.
He tallied another multi-hit effort on Sunday, starting with a solo shot in the opening frame and ending with a bases-clearing triple to balloon the lead to 11-0. Faulkner enters the final weekend of the regular season as the conference leader with 13 home runs, and he ranks second with 52 RBI. This marks his second career Hitter of the Week honor.
Honorable Mention: Josh Leslie, McNeese; Amani Larry, New Orleans; Bo Willis, Northwestern State; Leo Markotic, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
Pitcher of the Week – Andrew Landry, Southeastern – Sophomore – Starting Pitcher – Slidell, La.
Landry spun a gem in a big spot, leading the Lions to a victory that put them in a tie for first place with three games remaining. He tossed a seven-inning shutout and struck out seven batters, both career highs. Landry fanned seven of the first 10 batters he faced and was hitless through 4.1 innings. He retired the final eight batters to secure the first complete game by a Southeastern starter this season. This marks Landry’s first career Pitcher of the Week award.
Honorable Mention: Chandler David, UIW; Zane Zeppuhar, McNeese; Tyler LeBlanc, New Orleans; Donovan Ohnoutka, Northwestern State; Zach Garcia, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
Southland weekly award winners are nominated and voted upon by each school’s sports information director. Voting for one’s own athlete is not permitted. To earn honorable mention, a student-athlete must appear on 25 percent of ballots.
2022 Southland Baseball Players of the Week
May 9 – Preston Faulkner, Southeastern; Andrew Landry, Southeastern
May 2 – Andruw Gonzales, McNeese; Beau Blanchard, New Orleans
April 25 – Pearce Howard, New Orleans; Cameron Foster, McNeese
April 18 – Bryce Grizzaffi, Southeastern; Tyler Theriot, Nicholls
April 11 – Ridge Rogers, UIW; Brandon Mitchell, New Orleans
April 4 – Pearce Howard, New Orleans; Jaime Ramirez Jr., Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
March 28 – Alec Paz, Nicholls; Johnathan Harmon, Northwestern State
March 21 – Amani Larry, New Orleans; Adam Guth, Southeastern
March 14 – Garrett Felix, Nicholls; Collin Horton, New Orleans
March 8 – Brendan Ryan, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi; Cameron Foster, McNeese
March 1 – Pearce Howard, New Orleans; Michael Garza, UIW
Feb. 22 – Jake Miller, HBU; Grant Rogers, McNeese