May 24, 2010
By Brian Ormiston
UCFAthletics.com
Orlando, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - A day after being selected as the Conference USA Hitter of the Week, UCF's Darnell Sweeney received another special honor. The freshman shortstop was named a Louisville Slugger/Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week, joining just three other student-athletes in the entire country to earn the accolade in Monday's announcement.
Sweeney became the second Knight in as many years to be selected a Louisville Slugger/Collegiate Baseball National Hitter of the Week, as Shane Brown received the award during the 2009 season.
A native of Miramar, Fla., Sweeney lit up Tulane last weekend for an .846 batting average thanks to a 11-for-13 showing at the plate. That enabled him to raise his season average from .329 to .358, and that all occurred during his first season at the Division I level.
During the series victory over the Green Wave, Sweeney slugged 1.385 and had an .800 on-base percentage for a 2.185 OPS. He notched 10 RBI and scored eight runs, all while banging out four doubles and a homer. He drew one walk, did not strike out once and stole base as well. Of the four outs he did make, two were on sacrifices and another was a RBI fielder's choice.
Sweeney opened the match-up at Tulane with a 4-for-5 performance in game one, falling a triple short of hitting for the cycle while driving in five runs. After a 2-for-3 day at the dish with two doubles, three RBI and two runs in game two, Sweeney was perfect in the finale. He went 5-for-5 with a double, two RBI, four runs and a stolen base.
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