Albany State sweeps play of the week honors

Athletes at Albany State University swept the weekly awards from the SIAC this week for baseball and softball.

In baseball, outfielder Kevin Bryant II was named player of the week and Malik Barrington was named pitcher of the week. In softball, third baseman Lavette Tucker was named player of the week and Aryn McGowan earned pitcher of the week honors.

After falling behind 1-0 in the 3rd inning, ASU loaded the bases in the home half and Kevin Bryant connected with a grand slam over the right field wall to put the Golden Rams ahead of Emmanuel College this past weekend. Bryant finished the game 2-for-4 with four RBIs and helped the Golden Rams avoid the sweep by taking the final game, 5-1. The outfielder finished the week with three home runs and 10 RBIs for the week on six runs.

Barrington pitched twelve total innings for the Golden Rams against Emmanuel and Young Harris College finishing with a 2-0 record on the mound. The right-handed pitcher struck out 13 hitters while only allowing three runs. The Golden Rams are an even 3-3 to begin their season as they head to Valdosta State for their next contest on Wednesday.

Tucker led the Lady Rams in their split series against Point and Thomas. In her five hits, Tucker drove in three runs, recording one double, one triple, and one homer with 5 RBIs.

Against Thomas, the sophomore hit a 2-RBI triple pushing three runs across the plate in the first inning and followed up in the second game with a homer in the sixth.

McGowan (1-3) pitched a total of 25 innings for the Golden Rams. She recorded 11 strikeouts thus far to kick off the season. ASU (2-6) is back on the road Feb. 12, when it travels to Alabama to take on Auburn University-Montgomery in a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. CST.