OTTO FRANZ OF CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY (TEXAS), a senior left-handed pitcher from Austin, Texas, has been named the SCAC Baseball Pitcher of the Week for games played from Monday, March 3 through Sunday, March 9. SCAC Baseball Release - Week 5
Franz was stellar on the mound in Friday's series-opening win over Southwestern. Franz only allowed three hits (no walks) and connected on a season-high eight strikeouts in eight innings of work in the 10-0 complete game win.
For the season, Franz is 3-1 with a 2.38 ERA (fifth in the SCAC), 27 strikeouts (second in the SCAC) and a league-leading WHIP of 0.88.
Other outstanding performances in the SCAC:
Senior left-hander Nolan McInvale of Texas Lutheran tossed his first career complete game, striking out 11 Ozarks batters, in the Bulldogs' 8-2 victory on Friday. He scattered seven hits and allowed just two earned runs in Friday's second game against the Eagles. Senior right-hander Landon Murray of St. Thomas dominated on the mound in an 11-1 victory over Dallas, working 8.0 innings of one-run ball with six strikeouts. His precision remains key for the Celts as the right-hander extended his streak to 26 consecutive innings without allowing a walk. Senior right-hander Clayton Jackson of Trinity led the eighth-ranked Tiger baseball team to a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference weekend series sweep of McMurry University. Jackson picked up the win in relief during game one of the series on Friday afternoon, helping Trinity to start off the series with a win. He entered the game with two outs in the fifth and stranded two McMurry runners to keep the game to a three-run lead for the Tigers. Jackson struck out seven of the next 11 batters he faced and recording 1-2-3 innings in the seventh and eighth to keep McMurry from putting together any kind of rally.Senior left-hander Stephen Rutherford of Southwestern earned the victory in Saturday's 13-2 win against Concordia (Texas), pitching 6.2 innings and striking out nine while allowing just one walk, seven hits and two earned runs. Senior left-hander Trystan Mallory of Austin College went the distance for a road win at Schreiner, tossing 7.0 complete innings in a 14-2 win while allowing two runs - both of which came in the first inning - and scattering six hits with four strikeouts. Mallory didn't allow a hit after the third inning, retiring 12 straight batters to end the game, including striking out the side in the bottom of the seventh to clinch his first victory of the season. Junior right-hander Jake Estrada of Ozarks went 7.2 innings with five strikeouts to pick up the win against Texas Lutheran on Friday. The junior scattered six hits and allowed three earned runs in the victory. Sophomore right-hander Max Sauceda of Schreiner made two appearances on the week, working a combined 8.2 innings to pick up the victory in each game he pitched. He picked up the win in relief against Mary Hardin-Baylor on Tuesday and was the starter for Saturday's first game against Austin College, a 16-6 victory for the Mountaineers. Sauceda allowed 11 hits and five earned runs across his two appearances, striking out three while walking four.
| SCAC Baseball Pitchers-of-the-Week | |
| Week 1 | Otto Franz, Concordia University (Texas) |
| Week 2 | Triston McGowan, Texas Lutheran University |
| Week 3 | Landon Murray, University of St. Thomas |
| Week 4 | Trajan Lee, Trinity University |
| Week 5 | Otto Franz, Concordia University (Texas) |
| Week 6 | |
| Week 7 | |
| Week 8 | |
| Week 9 | |
| Week 10 | |
| Week 11 | |
