UF Baseball's Mike Zunino Named SEC Player of the Week
Monday, May 2, 2011 | Baseball
Sophomore catcher Mike Zunino (Cape Coral, Fla.) was chosen as the Southeastern Conference Player of the Week for the first time in his career on Monday afternoon after helping the Gators to their first sweep of Ole Miss since 2002.
Zunino batted a sizzling .583 (7-for-12) during the three wins over the Rebels that enabled Florida (34-10/17-4 SEC) to remain tied on top of the league and Eastern Division standings with Vanderbilt (38-5) and South Carolina (35-8). He paced the Gator offense on the weekend with eight RBI, four doubles, four runs and a slugging percentage of 1.167.
In Sunday's finale, Zunino went a career-high 4-for-4, drove in four runs and had three doubles to become the first Gator player with a trio of two-baggers in a game since April 11, 2010. He went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, a pair of runs and a double in Saturday's series-clincher, the Orange and Blue's first series win over Ole Miss since 2008. The sophomore opened the series on Friday by going 1-for-4 with a key two-run single that turned a 3-2 lead into a 5-2 advantage.
Zunino has seen action in all 44 games this season, with 42 starts behind the plate, and is hitting a team-best .381. He also boasts team-highs in slugging percentage (.632), runs (47), doubles (15), multiple-RBI games (11) and stolen bases (6). In addition, he has totaled 39 RBI, drawn 20 walks and clubbed eight homers. Zunino's .450 average in conference games leads the league and he is currently on an eight-game hitting streak in which he is 17-for-31 (.548)
Georgia junior right-hander Michael Palazzone was tabbed as the SEC Pitcher of the Week, while LSU right-hander Kevin Gausman was named the league's Freshman of the Week.
The Gators host Bethune-Cookman (29-19/15-0 MEAC) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at McKethan Stadium before heading to Arkansas (29-13/10-11 SEC) for a three-game series at Baum Stadium that will begin on Thursday night.
