April 25, 2016
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Junior outfielder Gene Cone has earned National Player of the Week honors from Collegiate Baseball as well as SEC Player of the Week accolades as announced by the conference office. Cone went 10-for-12 (.833) at the plate this weekend in a sweep of Missouri with six RBI and seven runs scored.
Cone capped the weekend going 5-for-5, just a homer shy of the cycle and drove in three runs in the 9-2 victory over Missouri while setting a school record with a 27-game hitting streak, surpassing the previous mark of 26 set by Whit Merrifield in the 2009 and 2010 seasons. Cone’s 27-game hitting streak is the longest active streak in Division I baseball and is two shy of the longest this season by a Division I player. He was 3-for-4 with two runs scored with three RBI including a key two-out two-run double to give the Gamecocks the lead for good in Friday’s 8-5 win over the Tigers. He was also 2-for-3 with two runs scored in the 5-1 win over Missouri. Cone’s 10 hits were the most in a weekend series by a Gamecock player since Christian Walker went 10-for-11 at Mississippi State April 22-24 and the most ever by a Gamecock player in Founders Park history (dating back to 2009).
For the season, Cone is batting .377 (49-for-130) with two homers, two triples, nine doubles, 18 RBI and 37 runs scored. He has 24 walks to 14 strikeouts, a .457 on-base percentage and a .523 slugging mark. Cone ranks fourth in the SEC in on-base percentage, fifth in batting average and tied for 10th in runs scored. In 18 SEC games, Cone has been even better as he owns a .457 batting average (32-for-70) with a pair of homers, a triple, seven doubles, 10 RBI and 26 runs scored. Cone’s league on-base percentage is .558 with a league slugging mark of .671. Cone’s SEC-only batting average is second-best in the conference as is his on-base percentage with slugging third-highest. Cone has scored the most runs in SEC games also.
A Gamecock has earned a weekly honor from the SEC seven times. Braden Webb was SEC Freshman of the Week in consecutive weeks on March 28 and April 4, John Jones was SEC Co-Player of the Week on February 29 and SEC Player of the Week on March 21, Clarke Schmidt earned SEC Pitcher of the Week on March 7 and Adam Hill was SEC Freshman of the Week on March 14.
