BYU junior third baseman Brandon Taylor was named national player of the week for the second consecutive week and was also named Mountain West Conference Co-Player of the Week.
Taylor joined Rice pitcher/first baseman Joe Savery, Rice as the only batters named by Collegiate Baseball magazine to the Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week honors along with USC pitcher Ian Kennedy; Morningside College pitching duo Heath Horsley and Justin Carey; Tulane pitching trio J.R. Crowel, Billy Mohl, and Daniel Latham.
Taylor joined Utah senior second baseman Doug Beck as MWC Co-Players of the Week, while San Diego State junior lefthander Alex Hinshaw earned league pitcher of the week accolades. Taylor was also named to the College Baseball Foundation National Honor Roll for the third time this season.
Taylor, from Orem, Utah, helped the Cougars to three wins last week. He belted three home runs, two doubles, a triple and hit for the cycle for the second time in less than a week, tying an NCAA record, and becoming only the third player in NCAA history to hit for the cycle twice in a season. He started the week with a 2-for-4, one run scored performance in game one vs. non-conference opponent Northern Colorado.
Taylor's cycle came in the opening game vs. conference foe Air Force, where he went 5-for-6 with four RBI and three runs scored in BYU's 17-2 win. In game two vs. the Falcons, Taylor hit his second solo homer of the day, driving in a run and scoring a run of his own. He concluded the series with a 3-for-5 effort, hitting his third home run of the series with three RBI and three runs scored in BYU's 17-9 victory. For the week, Taylor hit .458 (11-for-24) with eight RBI, eight runs scored and had a slugging percentage of 1.000.
Beck also hit for the cycle at New Mexico and had six hits to tie the conference record for hits in a game for the second straight week (BYU's Taylor also tied the record last week).