After a shaky start to the season, Florida’s closer, Brandon Neely, has been named the SEC Pitcher of the Week after throwing six scoreless innings during Week 5 of the college baseball season.
Neely first appeared in a losing effort against Florida State. He struck out the side on 18 pitches, keeping him fresh for a three-inning save on Friday night against Texas A&M. Neely struck out another three, surrendering just one hit in his first appearance against the Aggies, and then returned on Sunday to go two more.
Although he walked two batters in the series finale, Neely earned the win after a Tyler Shelnut go-ahead, two-run home run. Luke McNeillie closed out the game because Neely had some bicep tightness, but he should be good moving forward.
On Friday, head coach Kevin O’Sullivan expressed frustration over Neely’s usage through the first 17 games. He said that they wanted to use him more like Arkansas did Hagan Smith a year ago. Winning on Friday nights is big, and Sully knows he has perhaps the nation’s best Sunday arm in Jac Caglianone to lean on to close things out.
A preseason All-American, Neely is just starting to live up to expectations. This might not be the last time he takes home an SEC weekly award, especially considering how young the rest of Florida’s bullpen is.
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