BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Senior outfielder T.J. Hopkins has been named the Southeastern Conference Baseball Player of the Week, while freshman righthanded pitcher Brett Kerry was named the conference's Co-Freshman of the Week on Monday.
Hopkins also was named a National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball Magazine. Both players helped the Gamecocks to a series win over Palmetto State rival Clemson this past weekend.
Hopkins earned the Tom Price Award, named for the Gamecocks' Most Valuable Player in the Clemson series, by hitting 3 home runs and driving in 9 runs in the Palmetto Series win over the Tigers. Hopkins went 4-5 with 3 runs scored and 4 RBI in Sunday's win. 
He added a home run in each game of the series, including the go-ahead 3-run home run in the second inning of Friday's win, and now has 16 RBI on the season to go with a team-best 5 home runs. Hopkins was given the Tom Price Award for the second time in history, as he earned the honor in 2017.
Kerry did yeoman's work for the Gamecock bullpen, earning 2 saves while striking out nine in 4 1/3 innings pitched. He struck out a pair in the 9th as South Carolina defeated Appalachian State 3-1 on March 5. 
Kerry's big moment came in the Friday night win at Clemson. Coming on with a runner on first and 2 out in the 6th, he induced a groundout, then scattered 2 hits with 7 strikeouts the final 3 hits as South Carolina held on for a 5-4 win. He struck out the side, all looking, in the 8th while striking out the final 2 batters of the game. 
Kerry is now 2-0 with two saves and a 0.00 ERA with 18 strikeouts in 9 1/3 innings pitched this season.
In other conference awards, Auburn's Tanner Burns was named the SEC Pitcher of the Week and Kerry joined Mississippi State's JT Ginn as Co-Freshmen of the Week.
The Gamecocks have 5 games this week at Founders Park, starting with a 4 p.m. contest against The Citadel on Tuesday.