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 Sophomore Chris Masters garnered his third Southern Conference Pitcher of the Week accolade today. |
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May 5, 2008
Cullowhee, N.C. - Western Carolina sophomore Chris Masters was named the Southern Conference Pitcher of the Week today by the conference office. The award for Masters is his third this season and the fourth overall of his two-year career.
The southpaw hurler from Marietta, Ga., earned two wins in relief last week, both coming over SoCon-foe, Wofford. In three weekly appearances, Masters boasted a 1.12 earned run average, only allowing one run in eight innings of work while striking out nine.
Masters opened the week by tossing 1.2 innings against Garner-Webb on April 30 with a pair of strikeouts in scoreless relief as a trio of Catamount pitchers combined for the shutout win, 8-0. It was WCU's first shutout victory of the season, and the first since blanking Jacksonville in last year's NCAA Chapel Hill Regional.
In Friday's 5-3 win over Wofford, Masters tallied the win after pitching 1.1 innings in relief of starter Mike Tavernier - who fanned a career-best nine in the no-decision - allowing one hit with a strikeout. His longest outing of the week came on Saturday as Masters threw 5.0 innings against the Terriers, yielding one run on six hits while striking out six.
On the season, Masters leads the team with six wins (6-4) and 24 total appearances, 23 of which have come in relief with a pair of saves. His 62-strikeouts in 54 innings (1.15 strikeouts per inning) also paces the squad. Opponents are hitting a team-low .232 against the hard-throwing left-hander
Coming off its three-game sweep of the Terriers, Western (24-24, 10-11 SoCon) will take the week off for final exams before putting its five-game winning streak on the line this Friday at The Citadel at Riley Park in Charleston, S.C. WCU swept the Bulldogs for the first time since 1994 by winning three inside the friendly confines of Childress Field/Hennon Stadium a year ago.
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