Melton Named SEC Player of the Week
Apr 11, 2016 | Baseball
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M senior Hunter Melton was named the SEC Player of the Week the league announced on Monday. The slugger was recognized for a week in which he helped propel the Aggies to a series sweep of the Georgia Bulldogs.
During the four games of the week, Melton batted .533 (8-for-15) with a 1.267 slugging percentage, two doubles, three home runs and 11 RBI. Ten of his RBI came in the three games against Georgia.
In the finale of the sweep, Melton batted 3-for-4 with one double, one home run and five RBI. In the third inning, he gave the Aggies a 4-0 lead with an absolute moon shot to the recreation center for a grand slam home run. His two outs in the game were a diving snare by the third baseman on a line drive down the line to rob Melton of extra bases and two RBI and a leaping catch at the wall that resulted in a sacrifice fly.
On Saturday, Melton hit two home runs and drove in four runs. He plated a run with a groundout in the first, hit the second home run in a string of three in a row by the Aggies in the fifth and capped off the game with a two-run homer in the sixth.
Melton opened the series against Georgia by going 1-for-3 with one run, one double and one RBI. In the fourth inning, he hit a leadoff double and came around to score the first run of the game. He plated a run in the seventh to push the Aggie lead to 5-0.
In A&M's 4-3 loss at Rice in midweek action, Melton went 2-for-4 with one run and one RBI. He drove in a run in the first inning with a single. In the seventh, he hit a leadoff single and came around to score to trim the Owls' advantage to 4-2.
On the season, Melton is hitting .371 with 30 runs, nine doubles, two triples, eight home runs and 41 RBI. His .669 slugging percentage and eight home runs lead the SEC. He also ranks second in the league in RBI and fifth in batting average.
The honor was the second weekly award bestowed on Melton by the SEC. He was tabbed the SEC Freshman of the Week on May 6, 2013.
It marks the first weekly award for Texas A&M in 2016. Mitchell Nau is the only other Aggie to earn SEC Player of the Week recognition, earning the honor on May 4, 2015. Aggies have earned SEC Pitcher of the Week recognition on three occasions and SEC Freshman of the Week three times.
