Third baseman Joe Ruth is the USA South Baseball Player of the Week for the week ending April 17. Ruth led the second-ranked Panthers to a 3-1 record last week..
Ruth batted .571 (12-for-21), scored nine runs, had two doubles, a triple, four home runs, and 16 RBIs. He had .522 on-base percentage and a 1.333 slugging percentage. In a 20-9 win over Oglethorpe, Ruth was 5-for-6 with four runs scored, eight RBIs, a double, a triple, and three home runs. He set a school record for the NCAA era for home runs in a game and tied the record for RBIs in the game. In taking two of three games against USA South foe Piedmont, Ruth went 7-for-15 with five runs scored and eight RBIs. He won the final game against Piedmont with a two-out two-run walk off home run. It was the first walk off home run by a Panther since Mike Sanders beat Centre with a solo home run on March 21, 2009.
Ruth leads the Panthers in batting average (.463), home runs (9), RBIs (58), and slugging percentage (.752). He is the conference leader and second in NCAA Division III in RBIs. In the conference, Ruth is tied for the lead in home runs, and leads in batting average.
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