HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – The Thundering Herd’s Tyler Ratliff capped off a career week by being named the Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball.
Ratliff was also named the Conference USA Co-Hitter of the Week.
“This is a great honor for Tyler and the program to be recognized by such a distinguished organization,” Herd coachJeff Waggoner said. “I’m very proud of Tyler, he’s matured a lot as a player this season. We look for a lot more great things out of Tyler.”
Ratliff was a combined 9-for-18 with three homeruns and 11 RBI in four games last week. He belted his first grand slam in the eighth inning against West Virginia on Wednesday night. It was the third time this season Ratliff drove in four runs in a game.
He continued swinging a hot bat in the Herd’s weekend series at Middle Tennessee. The Alexandria, Va. Native launched a two-run homer in the first game of the series and followed that up with another long ball in game two, on his way to a 5-for-6 day at the plate in Marshall’s 25-6 win over the Blue Raiders.
The sophomore had a .550 on-base percentage for the week, with an impressive 1.056 slugging percentage. Ratliff entered the past weekend batting .291 (37-for-127), but improved it to .317 (46-for-145). He is second on the team in home runs with seven, and third in RBIs with 32.
Ratliff is the first member of the Thundering Herd to earn the award since current Atlanta Braves’ right-hander Aaron Blair (2011-13) was named National Pitcher of the Week in 2013.