By ISU Sports Information
ST LOUIS – Illinois State senior outfielder Logan Leverett has been named the Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Player of the Week, the league announced Monday.
Leverett played a pivotal role in Illinois State’s three-game sweep of Southeast Missouri State over the weekend in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Leverett hit a go-ahead, ninth-inning grand slam to help the Redbirds win the series opener, before providing a game-winning defensive assist in the final game of the series to complete the sweep.
Leverett hit .429/.429/1.071 in the series, with four of his six hits going for extra bases (one double, one triple, two home runs). Leverett’s only hit in the series opener was the biggest hit of the game, as he helped cap the Redbird comeback with a tie-breaking, two-out grand slam in the top of the ninth inning. The senior outfielder stayed hot the next day, as he contributed a double, triple and two RBIs in the Redbirds’ 8-3 win in the first game of a doubleheader, before going 3-for-4 with a three-run home run in the nightcap.
His biggest contribution may have come on a play in the field, however, as Leverett sealed the win and the series sweep when he cut down the potential game-tying run at home plate to end the game.
Leverett is currently hitting .333/.357/.741 through six games this season.
Illinois State (4-2) is back in action this weekend as it travels to Nashville, Tennessee, to take on 2014 College World Series champion Vanderbilt in a three-game series beginning Friday. Vanderbilt is currently ranked No. 1 in the nation in three of the five major college baseball polls.