LSU's Derek Curiel named SEC Freshman of the Week

BATON ROUGE, La. – LSU leftfielder Derek Curiel was named on Monday the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week by the league office.
Curiel, a product of West Covina, Calif., helped lead LSU to an SEC series victory over No. 5 Tennessee, as he hit .417 (5-for-12) in the series with two doubles, one homer, three runs and six RBI. He enjoyed a remarkable day at the plate in Sunday’s series-clinching victory, going 4-for-4 with one homer, two doubles and a career-high five RBI.
With LSU trailing 2-0, he led off the first inning with a homer to cut the deficit in half, and he then tied the game in the second inning with a run-scoring double. He later contributed an RBI single in the fourth inning and a two-run double in the fifth.
Curiel’s two-out RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning in Friday’s Game 1 versus Tennessee tied the contest at 3-3 and set the stage for first baseman Jared Jones to follow with a walk-off homer that lifted the Tigers to victory.
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For the entire four-game week, Curiel hit .467 (7-for-15) with two doubles, two homers, four runs and seven RBI.
Curiel is batting a team-high .373 this season with 15 doubles, two triples, five homers, 41 RBI, 48 runs scored and a .495 on-base percentage.
LSU head coach Jay Johnson on Derek Curiel…
“The mental and emotional maturity and stability. the baseball skills are easy to see. Once we got him committed, this was a guy I was talking to since 7th grade when I was at Arizona. I knew the player was there, so it became if he becomes physically mature before the draft comes, it’s going to be almost impossible [to keep him] because you don’t see players with his skillset. He’s put on 17 pounds and he looks stronger than when he showed up here. Then the mental and emotional stability has allowed him to transition that talent onto the biggest stage of college baseball. THere ain’t nobody we want at the plate more than that guy right now.”