Second SEC honor of 2011 for Ficociello

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Arkansas freshman infielder Dominic Ficociello has been named the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week for the second time this season, as announced on Monday morning by the league office.

A native of Fullerton, Calif., Ficociello was also the conference’s freshman of the week after helping the Razorbacks to a three-game sweep over LSU earlier in the season.

Ficociello had a strong week at the plate, hitting .412 (7-for-17) with a homer, eight RBI and four runs scored. The freshman helped the Razorbacks to a 3-2 record on the week, including a series victory against No. 5 Florida over the weekend. The series win over the Gators was the first series victory for Arkansas over a top-five team since taking two of three games from No. 1 Vanderbilt in 2007.

Ficociello had at least one hit in each of the five games last week to extend his hitting streak to eight straight games. He also was the main run producer for the Razorbacks, recording three multi-RBI games and driving in five runs in the three-game series against Florida. Ficociello also hit his fourth home run of the season in Arkansas’ win over Southeast Missouri State on Tuesday. He finished the week with a .706 slugging percentage and a .476 on-base percentage.

The strong week continued a stellar freshman season for Ficociello. He leads Arkansas with a .345 batting average and 43 RBI. Ficociello is also tied for third on the team with four home runs.

Arkansas returns to the field on Friday when it opens a three-game series at No. 4 South Carolina. First pitch against the Gamecocks is set for 7 p.m. on Friday, 3:30 p.m. on Saturday and 12:30 p.m. on Sunday. All three games of the series will be televised. ESPNU will have Friday’s game, SportSouth will televise Saturday’s contest and CST will have the broadcast for Sunday’s series finale.