Post by The Cats on Jan 18, 2020 8:25:41 GMT -5
It's only 26 days until the Western Carolina Baseball team takes the field at Hennon Stadium for the first pitch against the Chicago State Cougars to open the 2020 baseball season.
Let's take this time to meet this season's Cats with Bats. We will highlight them by class, starting with the seniors and ending with the brand new freshmen Catamounts.
#36 Andrew Bullock
POSITION Infield
HEIGHT 6-2
WEIGHT 230
CLASS Redshirt Senior
HOMETOWN Chesapeake, Va.
HIGH SCHOOL Grassfield HS
2019 (Redshirt Junior): Played in all 53 games with 42 starts including 33 as the designated hitter, five in left field, two in right field, and twice at first base … Finished the season with a .279 batting average with 46 hits including 12 doubles, a triple, and three home runs Scored 24 runs while driving home 27 on the year … Posted 14 multiple-hit games with a pair of 3-hit games and six multiple-RBI outings … Made two pitching appearances on the mound including his collegiate debut against Utah (March 2) at the Keith LeClair Classic, striking out one against a walk in an inning of work … Was touched for three runs on four hits including two doubles in an inning against Wofford (April 5) … Enjoyed a career-long six-game hitting streak in late March … Doubled in six of his final 11 games of the season … Was approved for a medical hardship on Jan. 23, regaining his third year of eligibility … Summer League: Returned to the Fon du Loc Dock Spiders of the Northwoods League.
2018 (Junior): Only saw action in 13 games with 11 starts – eight as the designated hitter, three at first base – before being sidelined with a hand injury … Had surgery on March 26 to repair the injured hamate bone – one of the hand’s eight carpal bones at the base of the hand … Was batting .316 with 12 hits in 38 at bats at the time of his injury … Four of his 12 hits went for extra bases including two doubles and two home runs … Drove in six runs over his 13 games played while also scoring six runs … Though he didn’t return to action on the field, did return to practice late in the 2018 season … Applied for a medical redshirt; Summer League: Won a Northwoods League championship with the Fond du Loc Dock Spiders ... Finished the summer with a .293 batting average (56-of-191) over 56 games with six doubles and two home runs. He drove in 32 runs to finish second on the championship squad on the summer.
2017 (Sophomore): Played in 35 games with 21 games started, each as the designated hitter ... Also saw relief work at first base during the season ... Started the year slowly, with an average below .200 through his first 11 appearances before a 2-for-3 showing at UNCG (March 24) ... Finished the season with a .289 collective batting average, posting 24 hits including four doubles and two home runs ... Had five, multiple-hit games with one multi-RBI outing ... Matched his career-long with a four-game hit streak in mid-March ... Went a career-best, 4-for-4, matching career-highs with two home runs, a double, and three RBI in a win over Wofford (May 7) ... Closed the season with WCU's only multi-hit game in the SoCon Tournament against Samford (May 25), finishing 2-for-3; Summer League: Played in 55 games in the Northwoods League, collecting the first-ever RBI base hit to plate the first-ever run for the expansion Fond Du Loc Dock Spiders ... Batted .322 with 66 hits including 17 doubles and seven home runs, driving in 44 runs on the summer ... Bullock had a RBI double on May 30 ... Bullock also hit the first grand slam in team history in early July in a win over the Wisconsin Woodchucks ... Named Northwoods League Player of the Night on Aug. 3 after going 6-for-6 with two home runs, a double, four runs scored and five RBI.
2016 (Freshman): Played in 36 games with just four official starts, though he was the first guy off the bench in the designated hitter role much of the season as WCU generally pinch hit a placeholder for the DH on the scorecard ... Batted .304 as a freshman, collecting 24 hits in 79 at bats ... Had seven extra-base hits including six home runs and a double ... Recorded 16 RBI ... Tallied his first collegiate base hit on a pinch-hit single against Niagara (March 2) ... Hit his first career home run in a pinch-hit role, a two-run blast at No. 3 North Carolina (March 22) ... Posted a pair of three-hit games against Mercer (May 1) and UNCG (May 14), belting two home runs in the latter ... Homered three times in the UNCG series, collecting SoCon Baseball Player of the Week plaudits with a .545 weekly batting average ... Raised his seasonal batting average 54 points over the final month of the season ... Missed the Southern Conference Tournament after taking a fastball to the head/face on the final weekend of the regular season in a nonconference series at Kent State (May 19) ... Returned to the lineup with a face guard at the NCAA Clemson Regional ... Selected to the Southern Conference All-Freshman team by the league's head coaches ... Recorded a 7-for-21 (.333) batting average as a pinch-hitter. Summer League: Played in 36 games including six in the postseason, posting a .273 batting average with 30 hits in 110 at-bats for the Waynesboro Generals in Virginia in the Valley League ... 11 of his 30 hits went for extra bases including six doubles and five home runs, hitting homers in four-straight games ... Recorded nine, two-hit games over the summer ... Drove in 23 runs while also scoring 23.
Prior to Western Carolina: Three-time first team All-Region and two-time All-Monitor Merrimac Conference selection and a team MVP honor as a senior ... Batted over .400 in each of his final three seasons as a prep including a career-high .472 average as a junior ... Twice led Grassfield High to regional play with three-straight winning seasons his final three years ... High school coach was Gary Spedden.
Personal: Full name is Lewin Andrew Bullock ... Is the son of Lewin and Pam Bullock ... Has two siblings, Ashley and Austin ... His father, Lewin, played college football at Elon College.
Courtesy WCU Athletics Media Relations
Let's take this time to meet this season's Cats with Bats. We will highlight them by class, starting with the seniors and ending with the brand new freshmen Catamounts.
#36 Andrew Bullock
POSITION Infield
HEIGHT 6-2
WEIGHT 230
CLASS Redshirt Senior
HOMETOWN Chesapeake, Va.
HIGH SCHOOL Grassfield HS
2019 (Redshirt Junior): Played in all 53 games with 42 starts including 33 as the designated hitter, five in left field, two in right field, and twice at first base … Finished the season with a .279 batting average with 46 hits including 12 doubles, a triple, and three home runs Scored 24 runs while driving home 27 on the year … Posted 14 multiple-hit games with a pair of 3-hit games and six multiple-RBI outings … Made two pitching appearances on the mound including his collegiate debut against Utah (March 2) at the Keith LeClair Classic, striking out one against a walk in an inning of work … Was touched for three runs on four hits including two doubles in an inning against Wofford (April 5) … Enjoyed a career-long six-game hitting streak in late March … Doubled in six of his final 11 games of the season … Was approved for a medical hardship on Jan. 23, regaining his third year of eligibility … Summer League: Returned to the Fon du Loc Dock Spiders of the Northwoods League.
2018 (Junior): Only saw action in 13 games with 11 starts – eight as the designated hitter, three at first base – before being sidelined with a hand injury … Had surgery on March 26 to repair the injured hamate bone – one of the hand’s eight carpal bones at the base of the hand … Was batting .316 with 12 hits in 38 at bats at the time of his injury … Four of his 12 hits went for extra bases including two doubles and two home runs … Drove in six runs over his 13 games played while also scoring six runs … Though he didn’t return to action on the field, did return to practice late in the 2018 season … Applied for a medical redshirt; Summer League: Won a Northwoods League championship with the Fond du Loc Dock Spiders ... Finished the summer with a .293 batting average (56-of-191) over 56 games with six doubles and two home runs. He drove in 32 runs to finish second on the championship squad on the summer.
2017 (Sophomore): Played in 35 games with 21 games started, each as the designated hitter ... Also saw relief work at first base during the season ... Started the year slowly, with an average below .200 through his first 11 appearances before a 2-for-3 showing at UNCG (March 24) ... Finished the season with a .289 collective batting average, posting 24 hits including four doubles and two home runs ... Had five, multiple-hit games with one multi-RBI outing ... Matched his career-long with a four-game hit streak in mid-March ... Went a career-best, 4-for-4, matching career-highs with two home runs, a double, and three RBI in a win over Wofford (May 7) ... Closed the season with WCU's only multi-hit game in the SoCon Tournament against Samford (May 25), finishing 2-for-3; Summer League: Played in 55 games in the Northwoods League, collecting the first-ever RBI base hit to plate the first-ever run for the expansion Fond Du Loc Dock Spiders ... Batted .322 with 66 hits including 17 doubles and seven home runs, driving in 44 runs on the summer ... Bullock had a RBI double on May 30 ... Bullock also hit the first grand slam in team history in early July in a win over the Wisconsin Woodchucks ... Named Northwoods League Player of the Night on Aug. 3 after going 6-for-6 with two home runs, a double, four runs scored and five RBI.
2016 (Freshman): Played in 36 games with just four official starts, though he was the first guy off the bench in the designated hitter role much of the season as WCU generally pinch hit a placeholder for the DH on the scorecard ... Batted .304 as a freshman, collecting 24 hits in 79 at bats ... Had seven extra-base hits including six home runs and a double ... Recorded 16 RBI ... Tallied his first collegiate base hit on a pinch-hit single against Niagara (March 2) ... Hit his first career home run in a pinch-hit role, a two-run blast at No. 3 North Carolina (March 22) ... Posted a pair of three-hit games against Mercer (May 1) and UNCG (May 14), belting two home runs in the latter ... Homered three times in the UNCG series, collecting SoCon Baseball Player of the Week plaudits with a .545 weekly batting average ... Raised his seasonal batting average 54 points over the final month of the season ... Missed the Southern Conference Tournament after taking a fastball to the head/face on the final weekend of the regular season in a nonconference series at Kent State (May 19) ... Returned to the lineup with a face guard at the NCAA Clemson Regional ... Selected to the Southern Conference All-Freshman team by the league's head coaches ... Recorded a 7-for-21 (.333) batting average as a pinch-hitter. Summer League: Played in 36 games including six in the postseason, posting a .273 batting average with 30 hits in 110 at-bats for the Waynesboro Generals in Virginia in the Valley League ... 11 of his 30 hits went for extra bases including six doubles and five home runs, hitting homers in four-straight games ... Recorded nine, two-hit games over the summer ... Drove in 23 runs while also scoring 23.
Prior to Western Carolina: Three-time first team All-Region and two-time All-Monitor Merrimac Conference selection and a team MVP honor as a senior ... Batted over .400 in each of his final three seasons as a prep including a career-high .472 average as a junior ... Twice led Grassfield High to regional play with three-straight winning seasons his final three years ... High school coach was Gary Spedden.
Personal: Full name is Lewin Andrew Bullock ... Is the son of Lewin and Pam Bullock ... Has two siblings, Ashley and Austin ... His father, Lewin, played college football at Elon College.
Courtesy WCU Athletics Media Relations