BASEBALL: Tennessee’s Spence, Vanderbilt’s Leiter named TSWA Players of the Week
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee’s Liam Spence and Vanderbilt’s Jack Leiter earned Tennessee Sports Writers Association’s Baseball Player and Pitcher of the Week honors, respectively, for games from March 15-21.
Spence posted seven hits in four games for the Vols with five runs scored, two doubles, a home run and five RBIs.
The Geelong, Australia, native singled and drove in a run in an extra-inning victory against East Tennessee State in the midweek and homered to open the contest Friday at Georgia. The senior added two more hits and four total RBIs in the win, including a run-scoring double, with three runs scored.
Spence posted two hits and two RBIs in the second game of the series against the Bulldogs and finished the weekend with one hit in the finale. He is batting a team-leading .373 with six doubles, two triples, two homers, 18 RBIs and 24 runs scored in 21 games this season for Tennessee.
Leiter tossed a no-hitter and came within one batter of a perfect game in a 5-0 win against South Carolina.
The Summit, N.J., native walked the leadoff batter in the top of the first before retiring the next 27 hitters, striking out 16, blowing away the Gamecocks with fastballs the entire contest. He recorded multiple strikeouts in seven of his nine innings, including striking out the side in the second.
It marked the first regular season nine-inning, no-hit performance in program history since 1971 and the first in a conference game since 1971. Leiter was making just his eighth career start for Vanderbilt and had never worked more than five innings previously during the 2020 and 2021 campaigns.
He upped his record to 5-0 with a team-leading 0.31 ERA over 29.0 innings this season, allowing just one earned run on seven hits with 11 walks and 49 strikeouts.
2021 TSWA BASEBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
February 23 – Andrew Keene, Lincoln Memorial (Player); Gunner Becker, Tusculum University (Pitcher)
March 2 – Dominic Keegan, Vanderbilt (Player); Joshua South, Belmont (Pitcher)
March 10 – Fuzzy Furr, Tusculum University (Player); Elijah Pleasants, Tennessee (Pitcher)
March 16 – Isaiah Thomas, Vanderbilt (Player); Kumar Rocker, Vanderbilt (Pitcher)
SOFTBALL: Carson-Newman’s Smith, Middle Tennessee’s Dodd garner TSWA Player of the Week honors
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Carson-Newman’s Shannon Smith and Middle Tennessee’s Corrina Dodd earned Tennessee Sports Writers Association’s Softball Player and Pitcher of the Week accolades, respectively, for games from March 15-21.
Smith batted .684 (13-for-19) with six doubles, two triples, two home runs, nine runs scored and 10 RBIs in six games for the Eagles.
The Channahon, Ill., native doubled in the opener at UVA-Wise and hit a pair of solo homers in the second contest versus the Cavs.
The sophomore doubled and scored in the first game against Newberry College and was 3-for-4 with two doubles and three RBIs in the second contest. She finished the week with three hits in both outings versus Bluefield State, posting two doubles, a triple, three RBIs and two runs scored in the opener. Smith added a triple and four runs scored in the second outing.
She is batting .466 with 11 doubles, seven home runs, 36 RBIs and 29 runs scored in 20 games this season for Carson-Newman.
Dodd posted a 2-0 mark with a 0.50 ERA in 14.0 innings in two outings for the Blue Raiders, giving up just one earned run on seven hits with nine strikeouts in two one-run victories.
The Trafford, Ala., native allowed two runs, one earned, on six hits with one walk and three strikeouts in a 3-2 win against Western Illinois. She retired the side in order in the first, third, and fifth innings and worked around a single and a walk in the fourth and two singles in the sixth.
The junior righthander tossed a one-hit shutout the following day versus Mercer in a 1-0 victory, striking out six with no walks. She retired the first 13 batters of the game before a one-out single in the fourth inning. An error and a hit batter in the seventh were the only other runners for the Bears in the contest.
Mercer batters faced a three-ball count just twice and advanced a runner past first only once. Dodd finished the contest with a strikeout for her third career complete-game shutout.
She improved to 4-0 with a 0.79 ERA in eight appearances and 44.1 innings this season, giving up five earned runs on 34 hits with eight walks and 34 strikeouts. Opponents are batting just .206 against her.
2021 TSWA SOFTBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
February 23 – Katie Eakes, Carson-Newman (Player); Nikole Counts, King University (Pitcher)
March 10 – Carly Turner, King University (Player); Raygn Hall, Trevecca University (Pitcher)
March 16 – Shannon Smith, Carson-Newman (Player); Nikole Counts, King University (Pitcher)