COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M junior Nick Banks was named the SEC Player of the Week the league announced Monday. The All-American was recognized for a week in which he helped lead the Aggies to a road series sweep at No. 8 Mississippi State.
He batted .526 (10-for-19) with a .842 slugging percentage for the week as the Aggies went 4-0, including the first sweep of Mississippi State at Dudy Noble Field since 2010. Banks logged three doubles, one home run, seven RBI and six runs as the Aggies swept the No. 8 Bulldogs. Banks helped key an offense that scored 10 runs in all four games on the week.
In the finale of the series sweep, Banks batted 3-for-6 with one run, one double and three RBI. In the eighth inning, Banks drove in the tying run with a single through the right side. In the ninth inning, he drove a stake through the Bulldogs heart with a two-run double to left-center after fouling off three 1-2 pitches.
On Saturday, Banks hit 2-for-4 with a team-high three runs, one walk and one stolen base. Trailing 2-0 in the third, Banks kick-started the A&M offense with a single and stolen base and he came around to score the team’s first run on a sacrifice fly. The next inning, he drew a walk and scored to give A&M a 7-2 lead. With Mississippi State cutting the margin to 7-6, Banks sparked a two-out rally in the eighth to ice the game. With two outs, Banks smacked a single up the middle, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored an insurance run on a single by Hunter Melton.
Banks opened the series against Mississippi State by going 3-for-5 with two doubles, one home run, two runs and four RBI. He got the Aggies on the scoreboard in the first inning, doubling down the leftfield line, moving to third on a wild pitch and scoring on a single by Boomer White. In the fifth inning, he set up a run by doubling J.B. Moss to third base and White knocked Moss home with a sacrifice fly. After the Bulldogs showed signs of life in the eighth inning to cut the lead to 4-3, Banks delivered the nail in the coffin in the ninth with a titanic opposite field grand slam to give A&M a 9-3 advantage.
In the Aggies’ midweek win against Abilene Christian, Banks logged singles in each of the first two innings, driving in a pair of runs as the Aggies took a 4-0 lead.
This season, Banks is batting .320 with 30 runs, nine doubles, three triples, five home runs, 29 RBI and four stolen bases.
Banks earned All-America honors from the American Baseball Coaches Association (third team) and D1Baseball.com (third team) as a sophomore. The Tomball, Texas native also garnered All-SEC Second Team status in 2015. He batted .364 with 51 runs, 11 doubles, three triples, eight home runs, 48 RBI and nine stolen bases as a sophomore.
The honor is the second weekly award bestowed on Banks by the SEC. He was tabbed the SEC Freshman of the Week for week 12 of the 2014 campaign.
It marks the second straight SEC Player of the Week honor for the Aggies coming on the heels of Hunter Melton’s recognition on April 11. Mitchell Nau is the only other Aggie to earn SEC Player of the Week recognition, earning the honor on May 4, 2015. Aggies have earned SEC Pitcher of the Week recognition on three occasions and SEC Freshman of the Week three times.
