This Week in A-Sun Baseball

Brandon McClurg tossed seven scoreless innings in his first start of the season. Image courtesy of Lipscomb athletics.

MACON, Ga. – Gardner-Webb junior Josh Drewery powered the Bulldogs to a series victory over preseason favorite Stetson this past weekend, and Lipscomb’s Brandon McClurg helped the Bisons to a series victory over the previously undefeated Jacksonville Dolphins. On Monday, the conference office honored the standouts with their first career weekly awards. It is the first weekly honor given to a Bulldog position player since the 2006 season, and the first Pitcher of the Week award for a Lipscomb arm in 2008.

Drewery led Gardner-Webb to a 4-1 week and its first ever series win over the Hatters. The Casar, N.C. native batted a robust .571 over four starts, seeing time at shortstop and DH. The sports management major also hurled 6.2 innings and fanned nine batters (one walk) to pick up the series opening mound win over Stetson, and was 2-for-3 with an RBI double in that one-run win. On the week, Drewery had a 1.000 slugging percentage and .647 on base percentage for the week with a home run, three doubles and five RBI, and batted .545 in the Stetson series.

McClurg pitched seven scoreless innings in his first start of the season as the Bisons won 10-0 over Jacksonville on Saturday, the second of two wins in the three-game series. The losses were the first for Jacksonville in the A-Sun this season. The junior struck out nine and surrendered just three hits in the victory.

The Atlantic Sun Conference is a 12-member league committed to Building Winners for Life, with a focus on academic and athletic integrity and a balance between the two for the student-athlete, and maintaining a high level of sportsmanship. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun encompasses six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun consists of some of the most dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, Campbell University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Gardner-Webb University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.

Other Top Performers:

Nate Woods, Belmont (Fr. – OF – Cedar Rapids, Iowa – Business Administration) – Set career-highs in hits (4) and runs scored (3) in Belmont's 13-12 victory over North Florida on Mar. 14.

Jeremy Gillan, Jacksonville (Jr. – C/1B – Port St. Lucie, Fla. – Exercise Science) – Led the Dolphin offense by going 5-for-11 (.454) with a double, a home run and five RBI.

Andrew Runion, USC Upstate (Sr. – 1B – Simpsonville, S.C. – Speech Communications) – Hit fifth-inning homer versus Campbell, the first of the season for the Spartans at home, for his 100th career RBI.

Jason Peacock, Florida Gulf Coast (Sr. – 1B – Bartow, Fla. – Business Management) – Hit .500 for the week, leading the Eagles to a series win at Kennesaw State.

Billy Shaughnessy, Mercer (Sr. – SS – Marietta, Ga. – Finance and Economics) – In five games last week hit .474 with 4 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 16 TB, .842 slugging pct., .545 on-base-pct., 2 SB.

Carlo Testa, Belmont (Jr. – P – Tallmadge, Ohio – Exercise Science) – Pitched a complete game in Belmont's 12-2 victory over North Florida on Mar. 16. He only gave up two runs over seven full innings and had five strikeouts.

Kyle Bowley, USC Upstate (Sr. – P – Apopka, Fla. – Criminal Justice) – Pitched eight innings, allowing six hits and one earned run as Upstate beat Campbell, 13-2, on Friday afternoon.

Richard Bleier, Florida Gulf Coast (Jr. – P – Davie, Fla. – Criminal Justice) – Threw a complete game in game one at Kennesaw State, allowed just four hits in the game and one unearned run in the 9th inning.