Sam Fragale continues to make headlines for weekend performance

After monstrous opening day, first baseman earns pair of honors and is in running for a third

February 20, 2017

BLACKSBURG – Virginia Tech baseball’s Sam Fragale, a redshirt-junior from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, opened the 2017 season in tremendous fashion and helped the Hokies to its first 3-0 start since 2013. For his efforts, he has been named one of Collegiate Baseball’s National Players of the Week and the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Player of the Week.

Fragale’s Opening Day performance included hitting three home runs in his first three at bats and finishing the day 5-for-5 with a double and triple and a career-high seven RBIs. He became the first Tech player with a three-home run game since Chris Kay (May 10, 2009 vs. Delaware State) and is just the fifth Hokie with seven RBIs in a single game since Virginia Tech joined the ACC. It was also the most total bases for a Tech player (17) since Brad Bauder set the school record with 23 at Georgetown (April 21, 2002).

His effort led Tech to an 11-3 win over USC Upstate and marked the first season-opening victory for the Hokies since 2013. In the second game of the series, Fragale added a two-RBI single in the first inning and had a single and scored a run in the series finale. The Hokies swept USC Upstate for its first road sweep since 2013, when they took an ACC series at Duke in early March.

Fragale is just the eighth Hokie ever to be named the league’s Player of the Week, while Tech has had just three players named Pitcher of the Week. He is the first Tech player to be selected Player of the Week since Mark Zagunis picked up the honor on March 17, 2014.

CLICK HERE to see full Collegiate Baseball release
CLICK HERE to see full ACC release

Lastly, Fragale was one of three players selected as a Gold Standard Performer of the Week as chosen by the Golden Spikes Award. Fans can vote for Fragale using twitter – the tweet appears below

Vote for your favorite Gold Standard Performance of the Week!
☑️📅 Voting ends at 5pm EST on 2/21@VT_Baseball @LSUbaseball @ElonBaseball

— Golden Spikes Award (@USAGoldenSpikes) February 20, 2017

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