May 23, 2010
By Brian Ormiston
UCFAthletics.com
Orlando, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - One of the smallest players on the 2010 UCF baseball roster put up some huge numbers this past weekend, and freshman Darnell Sweeney was rewarded for his efforts Sunday. The 5-foot-11, 160-pound freshman was selected as the Conference USA Hitter of the Week after leading the Knights to a series victory at Tulane May 20-22.
Sweeney pummeled the Green Wave to the tune of an .846 batting average after going 11-for-13 at the dish. The shortstop out of Miramar finished the series with a 1.385 slugging percentage, a .800 on-base percentage and a 2.185 OPS. Sweeney drove in 10 runs, scored eight times and delivered four doubles and a homer. He was issued one walk without striking out, stole a base, and of the four outs he did make at the plate, two were on sacrifices and another was a RBI fielder's choice.
Entering the week with a .329 season average, Sweeney raised it to .358 to finish with the third-highest mark on the team. That also ranks among the top true freshmen in the entire country.
He kicked off the series by going 4-for-5 on May 20, falling a triple shy of hitting for the cycle while driving in five runs. One day later he went 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles, three RBI and two runs. And guiding UCF to a 17-6 seven-inning win in the finale, Sweeney was 5-for-5 with a double, two RBI, four runs and a stolen base.
UCF opened the 2010 campaign by grabbing the first C-USA Hitter of the Week award when Beau Taylor was honored by the league office, and then it closed this season out with the weekly accolade thanks to Sweeney's performance.
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