Manson named SSAC Player of the Week

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – For the first time this season, Wolf Pack catcher Landon Manson has been named Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) Baseball Player of the Week. 

Manson becomes the third different player to be honored for the Pack this season, as Brandon Mooney and Collin Zeringue also each have been named Player of the Week thus far. Loyola also has had two pitchers win SSAC Pitcher of the Week, with Stephen Still completing the weekly awards sweep Monday. 

Loyola (35-12, 18-9 SSAC) went 4-1 in five games last week, with midweek wins against Louisiana Christian and Spring Hill before a series win against Tennessee Southern where the Pack took two out of three on the road. 

Manson, who has been one of the hottest hitters on the team late in the season, recorded at least one hit and one RBI in all five games last week, including multiple hits in three of the five contests. 

The junior started off the week going 3-for-4 against Louisiana Christian on Tuesday while hitting his third home run of the season and driving in three runs. Then in a Friday doubleheader, he had two hits and two RBI in each game, totaling two doubles as well. Loyola was unable to complete a comeback win in the final game of the week, but Manson's 3-run homer in the fifth inning got the team back into the game, cutting a five-run deficit to two. 

For the week, Manson hit .474 and slugged .895 while totaling nine hits, 11 RBI, two doubles, and two home runs. The Baton Rouge native been one of the best hitters on the team this season, now with a .339 batting average for the year. He's also second on the team in home runs with four, and he's tied for the team lead in doubles with 11, hitting all 11 doubles between March 19 and April 19. 

The Wolf Pack (35-12, 18-9 SSAC) will play one more series in New Orleans before the conference tournament, an important matchup with No. 25 William Carey. The series, which will be played at Greer Field at Turchin Stadium, is set to begin on Thursday, April 25, with a game at 6 p.m.