Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina third-year third baseman Maya McPherson was named the Southern Conference Player of the Week on Monday after batting .700 during last weekend's SoCon-opening three-game sweep of chromatic rival, Furman.
Selections are made by the conference office from nominations submitted by the media relations or communications staff of each member school.
The weekly award is the second of her career and the second in three weeks for the Lancaster, Calif. native. McPherson's recognition is WCU's third weekly accolade this season, joining junior pitcher Amanda Fulton, who earned the honor back on March 16. It's now the third time in the last four seasons that the Catamounts have had multiple SoCon Player of the Week awards recognized by the league office.
McPherson is the second player in the league to receive a pair of weekly honors for Player of the Week, joining Wofford's Brianna Stanley as the only ones to garner two awards.
McPherson put together another eye-popping stat line in the opening week of league play. She batted .700 (7-for-10) with three home runs and six runs driven in to pace the squad. She tallied multi-hit games in all three contests over the weekend, including a perfect 3-for-3 day on Sunday with two homers and four RBIs.
In game two on Saturday, McPherson capped a three-homer and seven-run second inning that helped propel WCU to a 7-4 win to clinch the series and give head coach Jim Clift career win 300. She opened the weekend with a pair of hits, including an RBI knock in the opener against the Paladins, which led to an 11-7 win. She drew a hit-by-pitch in a midweek showdown against #25 Clemson, which has allowed her to reach base safely in 12 of the last 13 games.
As a team against Furman, WCU tallied a .403 batting average over the three-game series, with 17 extra-base hits – 11 homers, five doubles, and one triple – scoring 30 runs. In the series, WCU had six players hit above .333 to help propel the Purple & Gold to a strong showing at the dish.
In March, McPherson paces the Catamounts with a .500 batting average (21-of-42), 12 runs scored, two doubles, one triple, and a team-best seven homers with 23 RBIs. She's had nine multi-hit games with six games of multiple RBIs in the month for the Lancaster, Calif. native.
On the season, McPherson sits second in the league in batting average (.474), first in hits (45), tied for sixth in doubles (7), tied for first in homers (10), second in RBIs (38), and first in slugging percentage (.884).
Catamount right-handed pitcher Amanda Fulton (9-3) was also nominated for the league's weekly pitching award after she continued her strong work in the circle, posting a 2-0 record and 17 strikeouts. She also added six punchouts in 4.2 innings of work against nationally-ranked Clemson.
UNCG junior right-handed pitcher Brooklyn Shroyer collected her second weekly award of the season after tossing 11 shutout innings with 14 strikeouts as the Spartans' ace tallied 10 punchouts as part of a two-hit shutout against East Tennessee State.
WCU steps back out of conference for a midweek doubleheader against Big South counterpart USC Upstate on Tuesday, March 24. The two teams open their twin bill with a 3 p.m. first pitch. Tuesday's action will have live stats available on CatamountSports.com. The midweek action with USC Upstate will also be broadcast on the Catamount Sports Network via a link on CatamountSports.com.
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