VIDEO: Lacie Rinus Interview
VIDEO: Taylor Scott Interview
ROCK HILL, S.C. – Carson-Newman first baseman Taylor Scott (Huntington, W.Va.) and pitcher Lacie Rinus (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) have been named the AstroTurf Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, by the South Atlantic Conference, the league announced Tuesday morning.
The awards are the first of their kind for both Scott and Rinus in their careers. Scott follows Katie Pritchett (Ringgold, Ga.) as back-to-back player of the week honorees for the Eagles. This marks the first time that Carson-Newman has swept the league's weekly accolades since April 5 last season when Kristen Toppel (Roanoke, Va.) and Allison Webster (Charlestown, Ind.) brought home the honors.
Scott successfully reached base in 12 consecutive plate appearances and tallied seven consecutive hits to close out her week (streaks that came to an end Monday against Brevard).
The freshman tallied her team-leading eighth and ninth multi-RBI efforts and her ninth and 10th multi-hit efforts for the season in guiding C-N to sweeps of Mars Hill and Catawba.
"Obviously it's a huge honor," Scott said. "I know I wouldn't be here without my teammates. We've been hitting the ball one through nine and that's given plenty of opportunities to drive in runs."
Scott was only 8-for-10 at the plate with a double and a dinger for the week. She got on base 87.5 percent of the time she came to the plate, climbing aboard four times on the week on bases on balls and two more times when she got hit.
Scott slugged a pedestrian 1.200 for the week and didn't make an error in the field.
Meanwhile, Rinus snagged her fifth double-digit strikeout performance of the season against Mars Hill and her fifth shutout against Catawba.
The freshman started out her week in the circle with a complete game against Mars Hill. She struck out 10 Lions on the day and gave up two runs, surrendering seven hits. She didn't walk a batter on the day.
The Murfreesboro, Tenn.-native followed up that effort up with a complete-game, five-hit shutout of Catawba. Rinus didn't let an Indian past second base on the day, striking out six.
"It's really exciting," Rinus said. "It's a team sport though. If my team didn't have my back, neither Taylor nor me would have gotten these awards."
Rinus tallied a 1.08 ERA for the week and struck out 16 total batters against five walks. Additionally, Rinus had a decent week at the plate. She went 7-for-16 for a .438 average with two doubles, a triple and four runs batted in.
Rinus, Scott and the rest of the Eagles will be in action Tuesday at Erskine. First pitch against the Flying Fleet is set for 2 p.m.
