UF's Mike Zunino Named SEC Player Of The Week For Second Time
Monday, May 23, 2011 | Baseball
University of Florida sophomore catcher Mike Zunino (Cape Coral, Fla.) was named as the Southeastern Conference Player of the Week for the second time this season on Monday afternoon after leading the Gators (41-15/22-8 SEC) to a share of the league title by taking two of three games from Kentucky. He was previously recognized on May 2.
Zunino batted .615 (8-for-13) over four games last week, including .636 (7-for-11) in the series win over the Wildcats as the Gators earned a piece of the SEC title with South Carolina (44-12) and Vanderbilt (44-9). Florida became the first SEC team to repeat as the league champion since LSU in 1996-97 and joined the Gator squads in 1981-82 as the only back-to-back winners in school history. His efforts also paved the way for UF's third-straight Eastern Division crown.
The sophomore went 3-for-4, cranked a pair of homers and drove in five runs to lead UF to a 9-6 win in the series opener on Thursday. He belted a game-tying solo shot in the third inning and connected on a three-run blast with two down in the sixth to move the Gators in front, 7-5. It was his second-consecutive league outing with two dingers after going deep twice at Vanderbilt last Sunday to take the series. He tacked on an insurance run in the eighth with an RBI single. In Saturday's finale, Zunino went a perfect 4-for-4, scored four runs and delivered an RBI single.
A member of the 2011 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team who is also a semifinalist for the Johnny Bench Award and the Dick Howser Trophy, Zunino leads Florida and is among the SEC leaders in batting average (.383), total bases (141), hits (77), runs (62), RBI (59), doubles (19), homers (15), slugging percentage (.701) and on-base percentage (.455). He batted .422 in conference games, second behind LSU's Mikie Mahtook (.425), and had 36 runs, 33 RBI, 14 doubles and eight homers in 30 league outings.
Alabama sophomore right-hander Nathan Kilcrease was tabbed as the SEC Pitcher of the Week, while Arkansas right-hander Barrett Astin was named the league's Freshman of the Week.
The third-seeded Gators will face sixth-seeded Mississippi State (34-21/14-16 SEC) on Wednesday afternoon at Regions Park in the second game of the double-elimination 2011 SEC Tournament. The game will be shown in Gainesville and Ocala on Cox Communications Channel 259.
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