A scorching weekend at the plate for junior first baseman Will Shannon has brought the Hillsdale College baseball player some well-deserved accolades.
The G-MAC announced on Monday afternoon that Shannon had been named the G-MAC Baseball Player of the Week for his performance in a four game series with Lake Erie. It's Shannon's first weekly conference honor, though not a surprising one for a returning first team All-G-MAC and All-Midwest Region player.
Shannon did tremendous amounts of damage to Lake Erie in service of Hillsdale's cause as the Chargers took three of four from the host Storm over the weekend. The junior hit .615 at the plate, 8 of 13, and drew six walks for a stellar .738 OBP in the four contests. It wasn't just that Lake Erie couldn't keep Shannon off the basepaths, however, as the junior also hit for prodigious power. Seven of Shannon's eight hits were extra base hits, including four doubles, a triple, and two home runs, a two-run shot and a three-run blast that came in the same game on Friday in a 20-8 Hillsdale victory.
In 23 games this season, Shannon's numbers are even better than they were a year ago, when he took home conference and regional accolades. Shannon is hitting .405 with 10 doubles, a triple, five home runs and 24 RBIs, leading the Chargers in on-base percentage (.515) and slugging (.747) as well as in batting average. He's one of just seven players in the G-MAC hitting above .400 and his 1.262 OPS ranks second among all G-MAC players entering the week.
The Chargers and Shannon have a busy week of action ahead, as Hillsdale hosts Saginaw Valley State for the program's first ever home night game on Wednesday at 6 p.m., ahead of a four-game series this weekend at home against Malone, beginning with a doubleheader on Friday at 1 p.m.
Photo by Reva Ludwig