After being named SEC Player of the Week April 12 and extending his hitting streak to 19 games against Troy Tuesday night, it's no secret that junior outfielder Justin Fradejas has emerged as a key component of the Auburn Baseball team.
Fradejas earned the honor after his squeeze bunt scored the winning run against LSU Sunday, April 11.
The win took the series for Auburn, which had not been done against the Bayou Bengals at home since 1998.
"It's a huge honor and, just to get it, I'm really excited," Fradejas said. "I just have to come out here and perform and do what my coaches expect me to do, so there's no added pressure."
Fradejas is the third Auburn player to receive the title, the others being Brian Fletcher and Hunter Morris. He went 2-for-5 at the plate Tuesday night, with both hits coming from bunts.
"Justin's done a really good job," said coach John Palowski. "Playing in the leadoff role he has a lot of confidence, and I just think he's really playing in a good place right now."
The week before he received the distinction, Fradejas helped Auburn to a 4-1 record against LSU, Georgia State and South Alabama. He went 9-for-19 at the plate, scoring six runs, three doubles and six RBIs.
The week's performance brought Auburn a No. 23 ranking by Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball, the team's first placement since March 19, 2007.
"We're playing really good," Fradejas said. "We're swinging the bat, our pitchers are throwing really well, and I think that we're going to go into the weekend and play well also."
Though Auburn dropped its first conference series of the season at Vanderbilt last weekend, Fradejas stayed consistent in is performance.
He made hits in all three games, including the first run of the final matchup off junior infielder Hunter Morris.
Fradejas reached base on two bunts in Auburn's game against Troy, one of which loaded the bases to set up a run.
"He's settled into right field, and at Vanderbilt he did a great job defensively," Palowski said. "He made some really nice plays, and I think he's really starting to understand, offensively, what he needs to do to get on base."
Auburn continues conference play this weekend in a three-game series against Kentucky at Plainsman Park. Game one will be Friday at 6:30 p.m.
"We just need to keep swinging the stick the way we are, and I think we'll do fine," Fradejas said.
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