Benintendi Earns SEC Player of the Week Honors

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Coming off another stellar week at the plate to lead the Arkansas baseball team to a series win over the No. 1 team in the country, sophomore outfielder Andrew Benintendi earned his first career SEC Player of the Week honor, the league office announced on Monday.

Benintendi hit .444 in five games last week, leading Arkansas to a 4-1 mark as it handed consensus No. 1 Texas A&M its first series loss of the year. He Reached base in each of his final nine plate appearances against the Aggies and scored 10 runs in five games.

Currently the nation’s leader in home runs, Benintendi took to the long ball in midweek action, recording his 14th homer of the year last Wednesday against Stephen F. Austin to take over sole possession of the home run race. He has hit seven of his 14 home runs in the last 13 games.

After a perfect 7-for-7 week in stolen bases, including four against Texas A&M, Benintendi now ranks third in the SEC with 19 stolen bases on the year in just 22 attempts.

Over the last 14 games, the Cincinnati, Ohio native has raised his batting average 61 points and now ranks seventh in the league at .370, including a .382 average in SEC-only games.

Benintendi leads the SEC in home runs (14), slugging percentage (.733) and total bases (107) and ranks second in runs scored (43) and third in on base percentage (.475).

Arkansas, now ranked No. 25 in the country, will go for its fifth consecutive SEC series win this weekend, hosting Mississippi State in a three game set at Baum Stadium. The two teams will play Friday at 6:35 p.m., Saturday at 6:05 p.m. and Sunday at 1:05 p.m. Click here for tickets.

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