With week five of the collegiate baseball season comes the first weekend of conference play. Teams and players alike are getting ready for week-in and week-out dogfights as everyone has their sights set on finishing the season in first place.

These three members of the 2026 Whitecaps who shined in week four are no different.

Brendan Lawson, Florida, INF

Florida sophomore infielder Brendan Lawson is becoming a mainstay in our top performers of the week stories, making the cut in three out of four opportunities, but when you look at the numbers, it’s almost impossible to keep him out.

Baseball America’s No. 1 prospect in the 2027 draft class entered the fourth week of the season with five home runs, and after three games against High Point and one against rival Florida State, he nearly doubled his total.

Lawson’s run of pop got started right away, with a solo shot against the Panthers in the first game of the weekend. His most impressive performance came on Sunday, however, working a full count before driving the ball out of the yard in his first at-bat and going deep again in the ninth inning, kickstarting a four-run frame that led to a walk-off, sweep-avoiding win.

While he didn’t hit a home run in the second game of the series, he picked up his second triple of the year.

Lawson continued to show his power against FSU, hitting one out to right-center, and showed patience as well, drawing three walks, something he did twice over the weekend.

When it was all said and done, Lawson posted a 2.018 OPS over the four-game stretch and now has nine home runs on the season through 18 games after hitting 10 across 60 as a freshman.

Nico Partida, Texas A&M, INF

Texas A&M has a burgeoning star in freshman infielder Nico Partida, who’ll be joining the Whitecaps for his first season of collegiate summer baseball later this year.

Partida arrived in College Station as the No. 2 player in the state of Texas according to Perfect Game, and could’ve been selected in the 2025 MLB Draft due to his abilities on the mound, as well as in the field and batter’s box, if not for his strong commitment to A&M.

The Aggies are certainly grateful for his decision, as all he’s done this year is hit.

Partida entered the week with a .333 batting average, and after hitting .538 across a four-game stretch that included three against Oakland and one against Stephen F. Austin, he raised it to .382.

Partida did it by registering seven hits and three consecutive multi-hit games after being held without a knock in the first game of the weekend.

Similar to Lawson, Partida saved his best for Sunday, going 3-4 with two singles and a home run to left-center field – his fourth blast of the campaign – helping his OPS for the week balloon to 1.471.

There’s still a long way to go on the season, but Partida is positioning himself to be one of the better freshmen in the SEC.

Joshua Whritenour, Florida, RHP

Lawson isn’t the only Gator to be recognized as a Whitecaps top performer of the week, as his teammate, redshirt freshman right-handed pitcher Joshua Whritenour, pitched his way onto the list.

Whritenour, who’ll be making his collegiate summer baseball debut with the Whitecaps later this year, missed all of 2025 due to an injury, but he’s now healthy and shoving.

The righty has been one of the best weapons in college baseball to start the season, posting a 0.00 ERA, 15 strikeouts and two saves across nine innings. This past week, he appeared against High Point and FSU, registering 3.1 innings pitched – 1.2 in each game – seven strikeouts and allowed just one base runner.

That base runner came in the form of a one-out single by High Point sophomore left fielder Jack Clark in the ninth inning of Sunday’s game, but apart from that, Whritenour was perfect, even earning the win due to Florida’s aforementioned walk-off.

Against the Seminoles, Whritenour didn’t earn the win, but instead the save, slamming the door by striking out all five batters he faced, getting them all to go down swinging.

If Whritenour can continue his dominance, he’ll surely be an important part of both the Gators and Whitecaps plans.

Title photo credit to Casey Bayne.