WALTHAM, Mass. – Brandeis University junior centerfielder Liam O'Connor of Avon, Conn., and rookie pitcher Sean O'Neill of Reading, Mass., have been selected as the University Athletic Association Co-Hitter and Co-Pitcher of the Week for March 30.
O'Connor and O'Neill helped the Judges complete a three-game sweep of UAA foe New York University at the Violets' new home field, MCU Park on Coney Island in Brooklyn, N.Y. Brandeis swept a doubleheader, 4-2 and 11-8, on Saturday, in a pair of seven-inning games, then won a nine-inning, 3-1 decision on Sunday.
O'Connor, who hits leadoff for the Judges, had seven hits in 11 at-bats for a.636 batting average. O'Connor also walked and had two sacrifice bunts, giving him a .667 on-base percentage, and a double to give him a .727 slugging percentage. He scored five of the team's 18 runs over the weekend, including the first runs of the game for Brandeis in each contest. In the 11-8 win in Game Two on Saturday, O'Connor led off the top of the sixth with a single and stole second. He came around to score the game-winning run on a bases-loaded walk later in the frame.
Overall this season, O'Connor is hitting .371 – third-highest in the UAA - with 12 runs scored and five RBI. He has three doubles and a triple on the season. O'Connor was the 2013 UAA Rookie of the Year. This is his first UAA Player of the Week honor, shared with Philip Maldari of Emory.
O'Neill improved to 3-1 this season with a terrific performance in Sunday's contest. He threw seven scoreless innings, lowering his ERA to 2.32 this season, fourth-lowest in the UAA. O'Neill allowed just four hits, two over the first six innings. He struck out two and walked three.
In four starts this season, O'Neill has thrown seven or eight innings in each, ranking fourth in the UAA with 31 innings pitched. This is O'Neill's first UAA weekly honor, shared with Daniel Sondag of Case Western Reserve.
O'Connor is a 2012 graduate of Avon High School.
O'Neill is a 2014 graduate of Reading Memorial High School.