Brandon Sproat named co-SEC Pitcher of the Week

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida Gators Friday night starter Brandon Sproat was named the Co-SEC Pitcher of the Week on Monday. Sproat threw one of his best games of the season, kicking off a weekend sweep of the Missouri Tigers. This is Sproat’s second SEC Pitcher of the Week nod.

Sproat sat down the first six batters he faced while striking out four, allowing the Gators (33-10, 12-7 SEC) to take a six-run lead in the bottom of the second. Sproat blanked the Tigers (24-17, 5-14 SEC) again in the third, allowing his first baserunner in the fourth as Ross Lovich doubled to left-center. After advancing on a sacrifice fly, Lovich scored on a second sac fly off the bat of Luke Mann.

“I think that may have been one of the most complete games we’ve played all year long. I said at the end of the game, when Brandon can go seven instead of six, even though it’s just three more outs and one more inning, and when Hurston [Waldrep] can do that, that really helps our bullpen,” manager Kevin O’Sullivan said. “That really shortens the game. I thought he was landing his breaking ball as good as he had all year long for strikes. His changeup was really good. He was really good tonight.”

Sproat and the rest of the SEC honors

Player of the Week

Dylan Crews, LSU

Dylan Crews led the Tigers to three wins in four games last week, including a three-game sweep over Alabama. Crews hit .545 (6-for-11) in the Alabama series with two homers, eight RBI and five runs scored. He blasted a three-run homer in the third inning of Friday’s game, increasing a 1-0 LSU lead to 4-0. Crews was on base four times in five plate appearances on Sunday with two walks and two hits, including a solo homer, and he collected three RBI in the Tigers’ 13-11 win. Crews increased his reached base streak to 47 straight games. That includes all 43 games this season and the final four games of last season.

Co-Pitcher of the Week

Brandon Sproat, Florida

Florida’s Brandon Sproat earned the Friday night win vs. Missouri to help secure a series victory over the Tigers. He pitched seven innings with one earned run allowed to improve to 6-2. Sproat allowed just three baserunners – two hits and one walk – and struck out seven batters in the contest. He held Missouri to a .091 batting average and improved to 11-2 across his last 17 starts.

Drew Beam, Tennessee

Drew Beam capped the Vols’ perfect 4-0 week with a stellar outing in Saturday’s series finale against Mississippi State. The sophomore right hander shut down a Bulldogs’ lineup that had scored 15 runs over the first two games of the series, holding them to just two runs on three hits over seven innings of work in the 13-2 run-rule victory. Beam tossed his second-career complete game and struck out seven in the process, allowing just one earned run and one walk to earn the win and improve his team-best record to 6-2.

Freshman of the Week

Grayson Saunier, Ole Miss

Grayson Saunier made two starts against SEC opponents in one week, starting against Mississippi State in the Governor’s Cup and against Georgia in the series finale on Sunday. The freshman allowed just one earned run in both starts and gave up only five hits over 9.2 innings of work. Against Georgia, he retired the first 10 batters he faced and 15 of the first 16. His six innings worked were a career-high and his six strikeouts were the second-highest total in his career. It was also the first time in his career that he had not issued a walk in a start. His 10 strikeouts were tied for the most in the SEC during the week.