NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Tech’s Tanner Shiver came through with several clutch at-bats this past week, including two walk-off base hits as the Maryville native earned this week’s nod for the Tennessee Sports Writers Association’s Baseball Player of the Week.
The junior Shiver played third base and right field this past week, leading the Golden Eagles to four victories as he hit .471, had a .550 on-base percentage and a 1.118 slugging percentage, collecting eight hits, six runs scored, a triple, three home runs, eight RBI and a stolen base.
Against Alabama A&M, Shiver hit his first home run of the season with a 2-for-4 day in a seven-inning run-ruled game against the Bulldogs, then went 2-for-2 with two home runs and three runs scored in the weekend opener against Queens.
In the second game, Shiver gave Tech an early lead with a three-run triple, then provided the walk-off base hit in the bottom of the 10th. He had final at-bat heroics again in the finale as he hit an RBI single to center field in the bottom of the ninth for another walk-off hit.
On the bump, Vanderbilt junior lefty Devin Futrell earned the pitcher of the week nod as he collected the first complete game shutout by a Southeastern Conference pitcher this season, leading the Commodores to a Sunday victory over Illinois State to complete the three-game sweep.
Futrell, a native of Pembroke Pines, Fla., went the full nine innings, yielding just five hits and struck out seven. He carried a no-hit bid into the final out of the fifth inning and did not allow a walk.
He currently has a 2-0 record this season in four appearances, carrying a 3.68 earned run average.
Over to the softball diamond, Carson-Newman senior utility player Brooke Matyasovsky has been on a tear as of late, knocking out six home runs in her last 16 at-bats. The Eagles went 5-1 for the week behind her bat as she hit .526 (10-for-19) with a .625 on-base percentage and a 1.562 slugging mark. Matyasovsky drove in 13 runs and scored 13 times with 29 total bases.
During the week, the Orange, Conn., native drove in three in an 11-18 win at Coker and an 8-4 win at Southern Wesleyan, then drove in six in a 23-5 win against Wheeling – hitting two home runs in each of those games.
In the circle, Trevecca junior pitcher Ashlan Sensing collected a perfect game in an 8-0 victory over Missouri-St. Louis, adorning her clean sheet with eight strikeouts in the contest, faced 18 batters in six frames of work. The Dickson, Tenn., product needed just 66 pitches to throw the golden goose egg.
For the week, Sensing went 3-1 with three complete games as she recorded a 1.80 ERA over 23 1/3 innings. She struck out 24 batters and had six combined walks and hit batters.