HATTIESBURG – After striking out 13 batters and allowing only two hits over a career-best eight innings versus Rice last Friday evening, Southern Miss junior RHP Nick Sandlin (Evans, Ga.) was named Conference USA Pitcher of the Week as well as a Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week.
This is the second time that Sandlin has been honored with both awards in the last three weeks. The C-USA accolade also marked the third time this season that the Golden Eagle ace has won the league’s weekly award.
Middle Tennessee junior IF/DH Drew Huff earned Conference USA Hitter of the Week honors.
Sandlin registered his fourth double-digit strikeout contest to now post 73 punch outs for the year, while allowing just six walks in 48 innings of work in 2018.
Against the Owls, Sandlin saw just four base runners reach in the game, including two on Golden Eagle errors. His lone run surrendered came in the sixth and was ruled an unearned run.
He retired 11 batters in a row at one point during the contest and saw his ERA fall to a 1.31 after not allowing an earned run over the longest outing by a Southern Miss pitcher this season. He fanned one Owl in each of his eight innings as he improved to 4-0 on the season.
For the Golden Eagles, it was their fourth C-USA weekly award of the year for the squad. It also marked the first time a Southern Miss pitcher collected this award three times in the same season since Barry Bowden did it in 2008.
