University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heels' Johnson Tagged ACC Player Of The Week
May 1, 2006 | Baseball
May 1, 2006
GREENSBORO, N.C. - After hitting four home runs over the last four games to lead top-ranked North Carolina to a perfect 5-0 week, sophomore catcher/designated hitter Benji Johnson was named Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Week for the first time in his career Monday. Johnson is the fifth different Tar Heel to earn one of the league's weekly honors this season.
Johnson tallied team highs of four home runs and eight RBI, as well as a .471 average (8-17) and five runs scored as Carolina defeated VCU and High Point before sweeping Duke over the weekend. With 20 total bases on the week, Johnson slugged 1.176 and notched a .550 on-base percentage to lead the Tar Heels.
After capping Wednesday's win over High Point with a pinch-hit three-run home run in the eighth inning, Johnson homered twice and matched a career high with three RBI for the second straight game in the series opener at Duke. Johnson had two more hits Saturday and followed with two hits and his fourth home run over a four-game span in the series finale Sunday. Against the Blue Devils, Johnson went 6-for-12 with three homers and five RBI.
On the year, Johnson leads the Tar Heels and is tied for fifth in the ACC with 10 home runs. He is batting .299 with a career-high 29 RBI. Johnson has hit safely in five straight games and can match his career-best hitting streak May 9 against Campbell.
Carolina has now won one of the ACC's weekly honors in six of the last seven weeks and seven of the last nine. Daniel Bard (April 24, March 6) and Andrew Miller (March 27, April 3) have earned pitcher of the week honors, while Jay Cox (March 20) and Reid Fronk (April 10) join Johnson as league player of the week honorees.
