Eubanks ACC Pitcher of Week
By: rmacrae@bellsouth.net March 7, 2016

GREENSBORO, N.C. – NC State’s Chance Shepard and Wake Forest’s Will Craig have been voted the ACC Baseball Co-Players of the Week, while Clemson’s Alex Eubanks was selected as the Pitcher of the Week.

In five games, Shephard was 7-of-18 with five runs, 10 RBI, four home runs, and three walks. He set the NC State school record by homering in his sixth consecutive game on Friday against Niagara, breaking a 22-year old record set by Mark Wells in 1994. Shepard’s streak was snapped on Saturday, two games shy of tying the all-time NCAA record, but the senior from Wilmington, North Carolina, did contribute a game-winning RBI with an eighth-inning sac fly to push the eighth-ranked Wolfpack past Alabama in Cary. Back in Raleigh on Sunday, Shepard homered in his seventh consecutive home game, while contributing behind the dish defensively. In three games at catcher, Shepard allowed just one passed ball.

Craig hit .692 on the week in five games as the Demon Deacons went 4-1. The junior from Johnson City, Tennessee, was 9-for-13 with nine RBI, three doubles, three home runs, and seven walks for an on-base percentage of .810. He matched a career-high in home runs with two against Richmond and drove in six to set a new career high. The two-way player also pitched 1.1 innings against Towson to earn a save.

Eubanks, making just his third and fourth appearances of his career, earned wins in both his outings against a 7-0 Wofford team and 10-1 South Carolina squad ranked No. 20. In the two appearances, he allowed just six hits for a .167 batting average, one run (0.87 ERA) and one walk with eight strikeouts. The freshman from Moore, South Carolina, retired all eight batters in relief to earn the win against Wofford on Tuesday. In his first career start, he pitched 7.2 strong innings to earn the win against the Gamecocks on Sunday, allowing only six hits, one run and one walk with eight strikeouts as the Tigers clinched the series victory over their rivals. On the season, he is 2-1 with a 1.06 ERA and .167 opponents’ batting average along with allowing just two walks with 20 strikeouts in 17.0 innings pitched over four appearances.