Wirnsberger, Mederos Receive SoCon May Awards
6/11/2009 12:20:00 AM | Baseball
STATESBORO, Ga. ? Georgia Southern Baseball swept the Southern Conference ?Player of the Month' awards for May. Junior third baseman A.J. Wirnsberger (Tuscaloosa, AL/Paul Bryant) was named ?Player of the Month' while fellow junior Chris Mederos (Valdosta/Gordon College) was named ?Pitcher of the Month'.
It is the first monthly award for both. Wirnsberger was named SoCon ?Player of the Week' earlier in May while Mederos was chosen ?Pitcher of the Week' back in April. The duo helped Georgia Southern (11-5 in May, 42-17 overall) win another Southern Conference Tournament championship and earn a number two seed at the NCAA Fullerton Regional.
During the final month of the season Wirnsberger clubbed seven of his 13 home runs, twice matching his career-high of two home runs in a game (Furman, at Samford). During the month he batted .438 with an .844 slugging percentage, while striking out only two times in 64 at-bats. He recorded five doubles, 24 RBI and scored 19 runs in 16 games played.
Mederos did not lose in his six starts, posting a 3-0 record with a 2.65 ERA. The junior struck out 42, averaging 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings. After working 7.1 innings in round one of the SoCon Tournament against Davidson, Mederos pitched 5.0 scoreless innings in the SoCon championship game versus Elon while working on three days rest. He struck out 18 batters in those 12.1 innings, earning a spot on the All-Tournament Team.
On the month he threw 34 innings and struck out 42 to just seven walks issued as opponents recorded a .246 batting average.
