TSWA recognizes college players of the week - Feb. 27

February 27, 2024 Forrest Freeman

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – UT Martin’s Jacob Crews averaged a double-double this past week as the junior powered the Skyhawks to two big road victories and earned this week’s Tennessee Sports Writers Association Men’s Basketball Player of the Week.

In the two outings this past weekend, Crews, a junior guard/forward from Hilliard, Fla., averaged 29.5 points and 11.5 rebounds, while shooting .633 from the field and .938 from the free-throw line. At Lindenwood, Crews scored 28 points as he was 9-for-14 from the floor and pulled down 12 rebounds, two blocks and two steals.

He followed that performance with 31 points – shooting 10-for-16 – with 11 rebounds at Southeast Missouri.

On the women’s side, Carson-Newman graduate guard Braelyn Wykle went off for two big performances as she could barely miss in two contests, shooting 71.8 percent from the field, 58.8 percent from long-range and 100 percent from the line as she averaged 32.5 points per game.

Against Virginia-Wise, the Greeneville native scored 37 points on 13-of-15 shooting as she knocked down seven of nine 3-point tries and all four free-throw tries while collecting two rebounds, a steal and an assist in the win.

She followed that up on Saturday at Limestone as she added 28 points on a 10-for-17 effort, with three 3-pointers and hitting all five free-throw tries. Wykle also had three rebounds and two steals in the game.

BASEBALL: Tennessee Tech catcher Hayden Gilliland helped keep its six-game winning streak alive at the plate as the Maryville native batted .625 with 10 hits in 16 at-bats with two doubles and a home run while driving in six and coming home to score seven times.

Earlier in the week, Gilliland had a 4-for-4 performance at Alabama A&M, collecting a double, two runs scored and two RBI. He went 4-for-4 again in the series finale Sunday against Sacred Heart as he scored three times with three RBI. He scored in each game of the series against the Pioneers, collecting two doubles and a homer in the series.

Austin Peay redshirt senior pitcher Andrew Devine earned the pitching honor for the week after a tremendous performance in a run-ruled victory over Maryland Eastern Shore. The Simi Valley, Calif., product and Texas Tech transfer threw a complete-game one-hit shutout, striking out 12 over the course of seven innings – the most by an APSU pitcher in a single game since 2019.

Devine improved to 2-0 and allowed just one hit – a one-out double in the first inning. Devine retired eight straight batters before allowing a leadoff walk in the fourth, then sat down the next 12 batters, including seven on strikeouts.

SOFTBALL: Union University swept the two softball awards for the week as junior Zoey Neal was named the player of the week and sophomore Lainey Baker the pitcher of the week.

Neal finished the week hitting 6-for-14 (.429) with three home runs, 14 RBI and five runs scored. The big blow came as she hit a walk-off grand slam in the series finale against Delta State.

Baker threw eight innings, allowing just two runs – one earned – on two hits. She threw a complete-game one-hitter in the series opener, then the final frame in the second game. Across the eight innings of work, Baker struck out 14.

BASEBALL
2/20 | Player: John Bay (Austin Peay); Pitcher: Peyton Calitri (Tennessee Tech)
2/27 | Player: Hayden Gilliland (Tennessee Tech); Pitcher: Andrew Devine (Austin Peay)

SOFTBALL
2/20 | Player: Olivia Lipari (Chattanooga); Pitcher: Ashlan Sensing (Trevecca)
2/27 | Player: Zoey Neal (Union); Pitcher: Lainey Baker (Union)

College players of the week honored - Feb. 20

February 20, 2024 Forrest Freeman

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – With a packed week of big performances across the state in men’s and women’s basketball, Middle Tennessee’s Jestin Porter and Fisk’s Maya Buckhanon stood above the crowd this week, earning the Tennessee Sports Writers Association’s Player of the Week honors in men’s and women’s basketball respectively.

On the men’s side, Porter, a junior out of Houston, averaged 33.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists in two victories over UTEP and New Mexico State. Against the Miners, Porter set a Conference USA record, knocking down eight 3-pointers in eight tries and scoring 41 points in the double-overtime victory. Porter finished the game shooting 11-for-16 from the field and 11-for-12 at the free-throw line.

The 41-point total is the third-highest single-game total in Blue Raider history and the most by a Middle Tennessee player since 1965.

He also recorded 26 points, five rebounds and four assists against New Mexico State.

On the women’s side, Buckhanon has been a dominant player all season long, but her effort last week was phenomenal. After recording 37 points on the road at Dillard, the Talladega, Ala., native shattered the Fisk single-game scoring record, was two points shy of the NAIA record and scored the most points by any NAIA women’s player in the 21st century as she scored 60 points against Southern-New Orleans.

In that contest, Buckhanon was 24-for-38 from the field, a 63.2 completion rate, while also hitting 75.0 percent at the line as she knocked down 12-of-16 charity tosses. In her second season at Fisk, she also reached the 1,000-point mark in her career in the contest.

BASEBALL: As the season started on the diamond, Austin Peay redshirt junior outfielder John Bay (Shattuck, Okla.) finished the series against Western Illinois with eight hits – seven for extra bases. The Oklahoma State transfer had five doubles and two home runs as he drove in six. In the second game of the series, Bay had two doubles, two home runs and five RBI as he went 4-for-4 and reached in all five plate appearances. In the third game of the series, he added two more doubles. Bay ended the weekend set reaching in 10 of his 15 plate appearances to record a .667 on-base percentage.

On the mound, Tennessee Tech senior righty Peyton Calitri (Collierville, Tenn.) posted a 0.00 earned run average in the opening weekend as he threw seven innings without an earned run in the Golden Eagles’ 5-1 victory over Bellarmine. Calitri allowed four hits and a walk with an unearned run in the seventh inning. He struck out four as he earned the victory. He used just five pitches to retire the side in the opening frame, then yielded just a single base runner in four of the next five innings, then two in the seventh.

SOFTBALL: Chattanooga junior utility player Olivia Lipari had a great week at home in the Chattanooga Challenge event, leading the Mocs to a 5-0 weekend. The Oviedo, Fla., native batted .636 for the weekend as she went 7-for-11 at the plate with a double, two home runs, six RBI and also drew four walks.

She scored six runs in the five games, including the game-winner in extras against Ball State. She went 2-for-2 in the opener against the Cardinals with a three-run home run, while also collecting a walk, a sacrifice bunt and a stolen base. Against Murray State, Lipari was 1-for-2 with two RBI on a home run.

In the circle, Trevecca junior hurler Ashlan Sensing led the Trojans to a 3-1 performance at the Music City Invitational. In 14 innings of work, Sensing sat her opponents down, striking out 24. Across those frames, she allowed nine hits and just one earned run for a 0.50 ERA, while not walking a single batter.

In a 3-0 victory over Purdue Northwest, she went the distance, allowing five hits and striking out 13. In a tough-luck 1-0 loss to Drury, she pitched all seven, allowing one run on four hits and retired 11 on strikeouts.

BASEBALL
2/20 | Player: John Bay (Austin Peay); Pitcher: Peyton Calitri (Tennessee Tech)

SOFTBALL
2/20 | Player: Olivia Lipari (Chattanooga); Pitcher: Ashlan Sensing (Trevecca)

TSWA names college players of the week - Feb. 13

February 13, 2024 Forrest Freeman

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – John Zhao continues to put up big numbers for Carson-Newman and, in this past week, he was electric, leading the Eagles to a pair of victories and earning the nod for the Tennessee Sports Writers Association’s Men’s Basketball Player of the Week.

Zhao, a junior guard from Sevierville, averaged 28.0 points and 9.0 rebounds as C-N put together two road victories at Mars Hill and Lenoir-Rhyne. Against Lenoir-Rhyne, Zhao had 33 points and eight rebounds as he shot 11-for-15 from the field, including seven 3-pointers, for his fourth 30-point game of his career.

He also recorded his first career double-double in the victory over Mars Hill, collecting 23 points and 10 rebounds.

On the season, Zhao is averaging 20.6 points and 5.1 rebounds.

On the women’s side, Lipscomb junior guard Claira McGowan collected the Women’s Basketball Player of the Week honor after an incredible week, averaging 27 points and 10 rebounds with victories over North Florida and Jacksonville.

McGowan, a Murfreesboro product, set Lipscomb’s NCAA-era single-game scoring record with 37 points in the Bisons’ double-overtime win over North Florida. She also collected her first career double-double against Jacksonville with 17 points and 11 rebounds.

For the week, McGowan shot 55 percent from the floor and 87 percent from the line, while she is currently averaging 15.7 points and 5.5 rebounds in Atlantic Sun play.

College players of the week honored - Feb. 6

February 6, 2024 Forrest Freeman

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Jordan Sears was a force for UT Martin this week as the Ohio Valley Conference’s scoring leader continued to put up big numbers, earning the nod for the Tennessee Sports Writers Association’s Men’s Basketball Player of the Week.

Sears, a Daytona Beach, Fla., native, put together 59 points in two games this week, leading UTM to a 76-59 win at Eastern Illinois and a 90-79 win at SIUE. He was efficient from the field, shooting 15-of-29 from the floor (.517) and nearly perfect at the line with 21 makes on 25 tries.

The junior guard tied his career high in scoring with a 34-point outing against the Cougars, adding six assists, four rebounds and three steals. Two nights earlier, Sears had 25 points, six rebounds and five assists against the Panthers.

On the women’s side, Sewanee sophomore guard Olivia Falvey picked up her second and third double-doubles of the season, averaging 24.0 points and 11.0 rebounds on the week.

Falvey, a Boston product, recorded a career-high 26 points and 10 rebounds in an 85-80 loss to Millsaps. She knocked down four 3-pointers and went 6-for-7 at the free-throw line.

In an 81-77 victory over Birmingham-Southern on Sunday, Falvey scored 22 points and pulled down 12 rebounds. For the week, she also had seven assists and a steal.

Memphis sweeps TSWA's college football player, coach of the year awards

February 5, 2024 Forrest Freeman

NASHVILLE – The Memphis Tigers turned in one of their best seasons in program history, and that combination has coach Ryan Silverfield and his quarterback, Seth Henigan, collecting honors as the Tennessee Sports Writers Association’s 2023 college football coach and player of the year.

The awards announced Monday come after Memphis went 10-3 and capped only the fifth 10-win season in program history with a 36-26 win over Iowa State in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl.

Silverfield now has 31 victories, second-most in program history for a Memphis coach in his first four seasons. That mark also ties for fourth nationally among head coaches hired in 2020. He had nine Tigers earn All-American Athletic Conference honors, led by running back Blake Watson and linebacker Chandler Martin, most for Memphis since 2019.

Henigan set Memphis records, completing 318 of his 476 passes and tied the Tigers’ mark for completion percentage at .668. He threw for 3,883 yards and 32 touchdowns while also running for five scores. He was named MVP of the Liberty Bowl after throwing four TD passes and running for another. The bowl win marked Memphis’ fourth straight bowl victory.

He also became the program’s career leader with 838 completions and 10,773 yards passing.

Past winners of the TSWA football coach and player of the year awards may be found at https://www.tswaonline.com/alltime-playerscoaches-of-year.