SEC Awards Go To Polk, Gray & Rogers
P.J. Polk • Tennessee
Junior • OF • Murfreesboro, Tenn.
• Was nearly unstoppable in the batter’s box, hitting at a blistering .750 clip with nine hits in 12 at-bats to help Tennessee record its first season-opening series sweep since 2004…Reached safely in 12 of 16 plate appearances for a .750 on-base percentage.
• Had three hits in each game of UT’s sweep over the Musketeers…Tallied four doubles and five singles over the weekend…Posted a tremendous 1.083 slugging percentage with 13 total bases…Walked three times and did not strike out.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Sonny Gray • Vanderbilt
Sophomore • RHP • Smyrna, Tenn.
• Gray threw 8.0 innings (longest outing of any SEC pitcher on the weekend) of three-hit shutout baseball in the Commodores season opening win over Niagara Friday night.
• He did not allow a runner to second base (only one in game) until the eighth inning and struck out eight batters to just one walk. Dating back to last season, the right-hander has not allowed a run in his last 17 and 2/3 innings with 21 strikeouts and just two walks while giving up 11 hits.
FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Taylor Rogers • Kentucky
LHP • Littleton, Colo.
• Rogers made his collegiate debut in sparkling fashion, tossing 7.2 shutout innings to pick up the win over West Virginia Saturday … Rogers was thrust in to the weekend rotation in his first college outing and dominated the Mountaineers, allowing only six hits and no runs, issuing just one walk and fanning two .
• Rogers got outs from the first 13 hitters he faced, carrying a perfect game into the fourth inning …He threw just 85 pitches, filling up the strike zone throughout the game, tossing first-pitch strikes to 25-of-29 batters faced.
USM’s McInnis & UCF’s Taylor Take C-USA Honors
IRVING, Texas – Preseason Conference USA Pitcher of the Year Todd McInnis was in mid-season form on opening day, carrying a no-hitter into the fifth inning for Southern Miss to earn the first Pitcher of the Week honors of the 2010 season. UCF sophomore C Beau Taylor was productive at the plate all weekend long in a three-game sweep of Savannah State to earn Hitter of the Week recognition.
McInnis, a native of Brandon, Miss., showed why he received all of the preseason accolades in the season opener vs. Northwestern State on February 19. The junior right-hander threw six innings before he reached his pitch limit of 75 and allowed only one hit, a seeing-eye single through the right-side of the infield with two-outs in the fifth. McInnis struck out nine and did not allow a walk to pick up his first win of the season. This is the second career Pitcher of the Week award for the 2009 C-USA Pitcher of the Year.
Taylor, a native of Rockledge, Fla., opened his season by going 8-for-12 at the plate for a .667 average, along with notching five runs, five RBI and two homers. He also threw out two runners on the base paths and recorded a sac bunt. On opening day, Taylor finished 2-for-3 with an RBI in a 7-2 win, which set up a career-day in game two. He lit up Savannah State for a personal-best five hits and four runs, while also connecting for a home run and three RBI to lead the way in a 14-4 victory. Taylor then played a huge role in the final game, where he tied it up at 6-6 with a solo homer with two outs in the eighth inning, as the Knights went on to score two more runs in the frame to clinch the series sweep vs. the Tigers. This is the first weekly award for Taylor, an All-Freshman team choice in 2009.