Matt Thaiss Named ACC Player of the Week

Story Links

April 18, 2016

Twitter: @UVABaseball | Coach O’Connor Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Virginia catcher Matt Thaiss (Jr., Jackson, N.J.) has been named the ACC Player of the Week, announced Monday by the league office. This is the second career award for Thaiss; he also earned the distinction on April 27, 2015.

It marks the second straight week that a Cavalier has earned a league honor. Connor Jones was named the ACC Co-Pitcher of the Week last week after firing a one-hit shutout at Boston College. Thaiss had hits and scored in every game as the Cavaliers went 3-1 last week, including a key series win over No. 13 North Carolina. He reached base safely in 14 of his 18 plate appearances (.778 on-base percentage) and was 8-for-12 with a triple, a home run, and seven RBI.

He hit the game-tying single in the 7-4 Friday win over the Tar Heels and had two key hits in the series-clinching, 15-9 victory on Sunday, a game-tying, two-run single as well as a two-run home run. He reached base in five of his six plate appearances on Sunday as he upped his on-base percentage to .483 for the season.

Virginia (23-15, 9-9 ACC) plays a pair of home midweek games this week. UVA entertains Radford Tuesday and VCU Wednesday; both games start at 6 p.m. The Cavaliers travel to No. 1 Miami next weekend for a three-game ACC series.