Tag: SEC pitcher of the week

Hagen Smith Earns his second SEC Pitcher of the Week honor

It’s surprising he hasn’t won it every week to be honest.

It’s honestly amazing how he hasn’t won this every week.

For the second time this season, Arkansas ace Hagen Smith earned Co-SEC Pitcher of the Week for his spectacular performance at No. 23 Auburn. The first of which he received after his monstrous, 17-strikeout performance against Oregon State.

Smith held the Tigers scoreless for six innings on Thursday, leading the Hogs to a 1-0 victory on the plains. In the process, he recorded his fourth game with double-digit strikeouts and his third with 12-plus.

If it wasn’t evident before then it surely is now; Smith has solidified himself as one of—if not the best pitchers in the country. The lefty has a 1.24 earned run average with 62 strikeouts on the season. However, if the James Madison game were removed, his ERA would go down to 0.32 for 60 Ks in 28 innings.

Smith is now tied for fourth on the all-time career strikeout list at Arkansas. His 12 strikeouts on Thursday brought his career total to 261.

Hoping to continue his dominant run, Smith is slated to start against No. 8 LSU on Thursday, March 28.

Hunter Hollan named SEC Pitcher of the Week

Hunter Hollan pitched a gem on Mother’s Day, which landed him an SEC weekly honor. 

Hunter Hollan pitched a gem on Mother’s Day, which landed him an SEC weekly honor. 

The Southeastern Conference named Hollan the SEC Pitcher of the Week after having what could be the best pitching performance from a Razorback on the mound.

Hollan threw the first complete game in the SEC this season, striking out ten batters while only allowing five hits and one walk. After giving up a leadoff home run in the third inning, Hollans retired 19-straight batters. He threw for a total of 113 pitches in nine innings.

“Today I felt good,” Hollan said Sunday. “I felt good, but I’ll pay for it tomorrow.”

This is only the second time since 2016 an Arkansas pitcher threw a complete game against an SEC Opponent—Dominic Taccolini’s 10-inning complete game shutout against Kentucky.

Hollan joins righty Will McEntire as the other Razorback to be named the league’s best pitcher of the week. McEntire threw his own one-run complete game against Louisiana Tech on March 11.

Maddie Penta named SEC Pitcher of the week for the second time

Penta struck out an impressive 25 batters in two games during the Tigers’ sweep of Missouri.

[autotag]Maddie Penta[/autotag], a junior who has been a big part of Auburn’s pitching staff since arriving on the Plains, has earned her second SEC pitcher of the week selection of the season as well as the sixth SEC weekly award of her career.

The native of Chesapeake City, Maryland pitched two complete games this weekend against the Missouri Tigers, earning wins in both. Penta only allowed one run off of three hits to post a 0.50 ERA for the weekend. Add on 25 strikeouts to just five walks and holding Missouri to a .070 batting average, and SEC honors awaited her performance.

Penta pitched a complete game on Saturday and matched her career high in strikeouts with 17. That mark also tied the most strikeouts an Auburn pitcher has had in an SEC game.

Penta leads the SEC in wins with 12, ranks second in strikeouts with 158, and is third in ERA with 0.98.

Auburn will be back in action tomorrow night when the Tigers head up to Birmingham for a midweek contest with the Samford Bulldogs. First pitch is set for 6:00 p.m. CT. The game will be televised on ESPN+.

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Thatcher Hurd named SEC Pitcher of the Week

After an incredible week on the mound, Hurd has been named the SEC Pitcher of the Week.

After an incredible week on the mound, [autotag]Thatcher Hurd[/autotag] has been named the SEC Pitcher of the Week.

Hurd had a rough start to his 2023 campaign as he struggled with pitch location in his first start as an LSU Tiger. He gave up four runs on six hits in only two innings of work against Southern on Feb. 21.

The only way he could go from there was up, and that’s exactly what he did. His next start came against the Texas Longhorns in a hostile environment on the road.

Hurd looked a lot better that game going 4.2 innings and giving up no runs on three hits. That momentum carried him into his best week of baseball yet, which earned him SEC Pitcher of the Week honors.

In two starts this week (Butler and Samford) Hurd went 2-0 as he pitched 13 innings and gave up zero runs on 18 strikeouts and 3 walks.

LSU will need him to keep up this type of production as the Tigers enter conference play this weekend against Texas A&M.

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Paul Skenes wins SEC Pitcher of the Week for the 2nd time

Paul Skenes has been dominant in his three starts for LSU this season.

[autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag] has been dominant in his three starts for LSU this season. He has gone 3-0 with a 0.50 ERA, 36 strikeouts and only three walks, and for the second time this season, he’s been named the SEC Pitcher of the Week.

Skenes has talked about adding a changeup to his pitching repertoire this year, but he has had no reason to try and use it so far. You don’t need a changeup when you throw gas like he is.

Skenes has thrown multiple fastballs for triple digits so far and all of the opposing hitters have had issues catching up to it. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

That could change as the Tigers close in on conference play. We will get to see Skenes once again this Friday against the Samford Bulldogs as LSU welcomes them to Alex Box Stadium for a weekend series.

Skenes adds this accolade to his long list of awards so far. He was recently named the NCBWA’s (National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association) player of the month.

Razorbacks ace, Chenise Delce, named SEC Pitcher of the Week

The SEC named Delce pitcher of the week for her performance in the Razorback invitational last weekend, her third time receiving the honor. 

Another day and another accolade for Arkansas ace Chenise Delce.

The SEC named Delce pitcher of the week for her performance in the Razorback invitational last weekend, her third receiving the honor.

Delce was 4-0, two of those wins coming from ranked Arizona. She finished the weekend with a .076 ERA and 25 strikeouts. Batters only compiled a .127 batting average and two runs during her 18.1 innings on the mound.

She leads the Razorbacks staff with seven wins, three against top 25 teams. She is on pace to eclipse her 2022 numbers, which earned SEC Pitcher of the year honors, her first season in the conference.

After spending three seasons in Tulsa, winning 15 in her first season, she has made a home in Fayetteville. Next for the Hogs and Delce is the Woo Pig Classic, which includes two doubleheaders.

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Montana Fouts named SEC Pitcher of the Week

Fouts had an incredible showing in last week’s series with Missouri, which led her to being named SEC Pitcher of the Week.

The No. 8 Alabama Crimson Tide closed the regular season in style by taking two-of-three from Missouri over the weekend at Rhoads Stadium in Tuscaloosa. Their ace in the circle was a key factor in the series win over the Tigers.

Following a successful weekend that saw her make three appearances, [autotag]Montana Fouts[/autotag] has been named SEC Pitcher of the Week, the league announced Tuesday.

Fouts recorded 17.2 innings of work in the series with Missouri, where she allowed three earned runs, walked four batters, and struck out 26 batters. Her best game came in the series opener, where she struck out 14 batters despite taking the loss in eight innings. The 14-inning strike out game was her 14th double-digit strikeout game of the season.

Fouts has struck out 254 batters in 159.2 innings pitched during her senior season, while posting a 1.97 ERA.

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Delce named SEC Pitcher of the Week

Delce wins player of the week following the sweep of Auburn, where she posted a 0.00 ERA in all three games.

Since transferring from Tulsa, [autotag]Chenise Delce[/autotag] has become an anchor for the Arkansas pitching staff.

After a near-perfect performance in the weekend sweep of No.17 Auburn, Delce was named SEC Pitcher of the Week, the league office announced Tuesday.

Arkansas’ Chenise Delce, a junior right-hander from Oklahoma City, Okla., earned two wins and compiled a 0.00 ERA in the series sweep over No. 17 Auburn. Delce tallied 15 strikeouts in 7.2 innings and held her opponents to a .080 batting average. She gave up just two hits, with one extra base hit, over the three games and struck out all four batters she faced in relief in the series finale on Sunday.

Delce joins a long list of Razorbacks who have won weekly honors from the Southeastern Conference this season. [autotag]Hannah Gammill[/autotag] and [autotag]Mary Haff[/autotag] won Player of the Week and Pitcher of the week respectively on March 15 following a 3-0 weekend at Liberty and James Madison. [autotag]Danielle Gibson[/autotag] won Player of the Week one week later after hitting three home runs in the series at Tennessee. Finally, [autotag]Kacie Hoffman[/autotag] won Freshman of the Week after grabbing five hits in the series with LSU.

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Sonny DiChiara, Joseph Gonzalez win SEC Players of the Week

Auburn baseball’s Sonny DiChiara and Sonny Gonzalez both took home weekly honors from the SEC.

Fresh off a series victory over Vanderbilt, first baseman [autotag]Sonny DiChiara[/autotag] and pitcher [autotag]Jospeh Gonzalez[/autotag] won weekly SEC awards. DiChiara was named Co-Player of the Week and Gonzalez was named Co-Pitcher of the Week, the conference announced Monday.

It is the first time in program history Auburn has had two players win an award in the same week. Gonzalez is Auburn’s first Pitcher of the Week this season and DiChiara is Auburn’s first Player of the Week since 2018.

DiChiara hit .412 over the weekend with three home runs, eight RBI, and hit safely in all four games last week. He led the league with 18 total bases.

Through eight weeks this season, the Hoover, Alabama, native leads the country in average (.452), on-base percentage (.595), and slugging percentage (.946) and leads the Tigers in doubles (13), homers (11), and RBI (32).

Gonzalez had Auburn’s first complete game on Sunday to lead Auburn to an 8-2 win over Vanderbilt and clinch the series. He is the first Tiger to throw a complete game since Casey Mize in 2018. He tied his career high with eight strikeouts and did not allow a walk.

In seven appearances and six starts, Gonzalez leads Auburn with a 4-0 record and 1.95 ERA. He’s 2-0 with a 2.40 ERA in a pair of SEC starts.

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Maddie Penta earns SEC Pitcher of the Week for the first time

Penta earned six wins in just five games for Auburn.

Maddie Penta was dominant in the circle for Auburn softball last week and was selected as the SEC Pitcher of the Week, the league office announced Monday.

Penta earned six victories over a five-day span as the sophomore tossed 25 of Auburn’s 37 innings with starts in five of six games.

She surrendered just one run in her six games for a minuscule 0.28 ERA. She allowed seven hits for a .086 average at the plate. Penta issued four walks while striking out a staggering 48 batters. The sophomore recorded double-digit strikeouts in three of her six appearances and averages 1.9 strikeouts per inning.

She combined with KK Dismukes to toss the program’s 29th no-hitter in Auburn’s 5-0 victory against North Carolina A&T on March 4. Two of her other starts were shutouts.

The right-hander was named the MVP of the inaugural Jane B. Moore Memorial Tournament after earning the win in each of Auburn’s five games.

She leads the SEC with 121 strikeouts on the season and has a perfect 13-0 record.