TSWA honors college players of the week - March 26

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Lee University first baseman Cam Suto had a tremendous week as he helped lead the Flames to a 4-0 performance on the week and his offensive numbers made him a great choice as this week’s Tennessee Sports Writers Association Baseball Player of the Week.

The junior from Marietta, Ga., batted .476 on the week as he was 10-for-21 at the plate, collecting a massive 16 RBI tally with 13 runs scored. In Lee’s seven-inning, 28-10 victory over Christian Brothers, Suto was 4-for-6 with nine RBI – including a grand slam and a three-run home run – and six runs scored.

Suto also went 4-for-6 in the opener with six RBI and four runs scored. For the week, he had one triple, four home runs and was 5-for-5 on stolen bases.

On the bump, Middle Tennessee freshman lefty Chandler Alderman was named the Pitcher of the Week after throwing an eight-inning no-hitter on Saturday in a 10-0 victory over Liberty.

The Poplar Grove, Ill., product struck out 11 in his second career start, recording just the fourth no-no in Blue Raider history and the first in 20 years. He is the second freshman and third pitcher to throw a solo no-hitter in program history.

On the softball diamond, Trevecca’s Kendall Andrews repeated as Softball Player of the Week as the senior from Murfreesboro continued to dazzle, hitting .643 on the week, going 9-for-14 at the plate. She scored 13 runs, while also hitting three home runs and one double to collect 10 RBI. Andrews also drew nine walks and was a perfect 9-for-9 on stolen bases.

In the circle, Chattanooga sophomore Taylor Long earned the Pitcher of the Week honor after she picked up a pair of victories and her first save of the season. Over 13 2/3 innings of work, the Calhoun, Ga., native recorded a 1.02 ERA and struck out 21 batters.

In relief against Jacksonville State, Long struck out nine Gamecock batters in 3 2/3 innings of work to claim the victory, then pitched a complete game, striking out nine to top Samford in the Mocs’ conference opener. She earned the save as she locked down the final three outs in the ninth inning against the Bulldogs with one on and no one out, whiffing the last batter.

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)
3/5 | Player: Camden Kozeal (Vanderbilt); Pitcher: Will Pryor (Belmont)
3/12 | Player: Tanner Shiver (Tennessee Tech); Pitcher: Devin Futrell (Vanderbilt)
3/19 | Player: Harrison Travis (Carson-Newman); Pitcher: Noah Toney (Union)
3/26 | Player: Cam Suto (Lee); Pitcher: Chandler Alderman (Middle Tennessee)

SOFTBALL
2/20 | Player: Olivia Lipari (Chattanooga); Pitcher: Ashlan Sensing (Trevecca)
2/27 | Player: Zoey Neal (Union); Pitcher: Lainey Baker (Union)
3/5 | Player: Hayden Dye (Carson-Newman); Pitcher: Taylor Long (Chattanooga)
3/12 | Player: Brooke Matyasovsky (Carson-Newman); Pitcher: Ashlan Sensing (Trevecca)
3/19 | Player: Kendall Andrews (Trevecca); Pitcher: Caitlyn Manus (Tennessee State)
3/26 | Player: Kendall Andrews (Trevecca); Pitcher: Taylor Long (Chattanooga)

College players of the week recognized - March 19

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Carson-Newman’s Harrison Travis and Union’s Noah Toney came away with the baseball honors, while Trevecca’s Kendall Andrews and Tennessee State’s Caitlyn Manus won the softball awards on Tuesday as the Tennessee Sports Writers Association selected its weekly College Athletes of the Week.

Travis, a graduate student from Soddy Daisy, hit five home runs during the Eagles’ weekend series against Emory & Henry as he batted .615 for the week and had a .722 on-base percentage. He hit three home runs as he went 3-for-3 at the plate in the series opener, becoming the first Carson-Newman player in the program’s recorded history to accomplish the feat.

He finished the week driving in seven runs.

On the hill, Toney, a sophomore righty from Florence, Ala., threw a complete game shutout against Shorter University as he went all nine frames, scattering three hits and striking out three. He threw 102 pitches in the 1-0 victory to take the series two games to one.

On the softball diamond, Andrews, a senior catcher from Murfreesboro, batted .571 for the week, collecting a 1.143 slugging percentage as she went 8-for-14 at the plate with three doubles, a triple and a home run. Andrews drove in four runs, while she also swiped three bases on four tries. She helped Trevecca go 3-1 on the road in the opening weekend of Great Midwest action.

In the circle, Manus, a junior from Murfreesboro, had a terrific week as she went 4-0 against Ohio Valley Conference competition, posting a 1.40 earned run average across 20 innings of work with two complete-game victories. She struck out 22 against three walks. She threw a four-hit complete game win over Morehead State with 10 strikeouts, then swept Lindenwood. She allowed one run on two hits in the series opener, claimed the victory in relief in game two, then completed the sweep with a five-inning effort in the finale.

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)
3/5 | Player: Camden Kozeal (Vanderbilt); Pitcher: Will Pryor (Belmont)
3/12 | Player: Tanner Shiver (Tennessee Tech); Pitcher: Devin Futrell (Vanderbilt)
3/19 | Player: Harrison Travis (Carson-Newman); Pitcher: Noah Toney (Union)

SOFTBALL
2/20 | Player: Olivia Lipari (Chattanooga); Pitcher: Ashlan Sensing (Trevecca)
2/27 | Player: Zoey Neal (Union); Pitcher: Lainey Baker (Union)
3/5 | Player: Hayden Dye (Carson-Newman); Pitcher: Taylor Long (Chattanooga)
3/12 | Player: Brooke Matyasovsky (Carson-Newman); Pitcher: Ashlan Sensing (Trevecca)
3/19 | Player: Kendall Andrews (Trevecca); Pitcher: Caitlyn Manus (Tennessee State)

TSWA honors college players of the week - March 13

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.

College players of the week named - March 5

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Jordan Sears helped lead UT Martin to a regular-season title with a big week, cementing his selection as this week’s Tennessee Sports Writers Association Men’s Basketball Player of the Week.

Sears averaged 31.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 1.0 steals with two home victories over Tennessee Tech and Tennessee State. Against the Golden Eagles, Sears had 28 points – 20 in the second half – with seven assists and five boards. Against the Tigers, he helped UTM overcome a double-digit deficit in the second half with 29 of his 34 points in the final 20 minutes.

The Daytona Beach, Fla., native’s assist-turnover ratio was phenomenal with 13 assists to three turnovers in the two contests.

On the women’s basketball side, Carson-Newman’s Braelyn Wykle repeated for the away after a phenomenal performance in her lone game of the week as she dropped 45 points on 15-of-26 shooting, including 13-for-26 from long-range.

The 3-point effort broke Carson-Newman’s single-game record and tied the South Atlantic Conference record. The graduate student from Greeneville, Tenn., also became the Eagles’ single-season record holder for 3-pointers made in a season with 93.

BASEBALL: Vanderbilt’s Camden Kozeal had an incredible week, earning the Southeastern Conference’s Freshman of the Week honor as he helped lead the Commodores to a 5-0 week with victories over Indiana State, Evansville, Louisiana, Houston and No. 15 Texas. For the week, he batted .583 as the Omaha, Nebraska, product went 14-for-24 at the plate, driving in 11 with three doubles and two home runs. He had two 4-for-5 games against the Sycamores and the Longhorns.

On the hill, Belmont right-hander Will Pryor had a strong outing against Little Rock in the Bruins’ 2-1, 10-inning loss to Little Rock as the Whitwell native threw a career-high seven innings and struck out a career-high 11. Pryor struck out five in the first three innings, then had three consecutive 1-2-3 innings in the fourth, fifth and sixth. He yielded just three hits and two walks in the game as he threw 84 total pitches.

SOFTBALL: Carson-Newman junior infielder Hayden Dye batted .500 for the week as she blasted three home runs and drove in seven to help the Eagles to a 3-1 performance. She drove in three with two home runs in an 8-0 victory over Kentucky State, then three more in an 11-2 win over KSU on another round-tripper. She had 13 total bases on the weekend.

Chattanooga righty Taylor Long went 2-0 on the week, allowing just two hits on the week as she picked up a complete-game one-hit shutout victory in a 5-0 win over Central Arkansas, walking five and striking out eight. The Calhoun, Ga., product earned her second win over the Bears in relief as she pitched the final 4 1/3 frames, allowing one hit and two walks as she struck out seven.

MEN’S BASKETBALL
11/14 | Jack Browder (Carson-Newman)
11/21 | Mikhail Pocknett (King)
11/28 | Jordan Sears (UT Martin)
12/5 | Reed Kemp (Maryville)
12/12 | Jalen Page (Trevecca)
12/19 | John Zhao (Carson-Newman)
1/3 | Nick Brenegan (Carson-Newman)
1/9 | Nick Brenegan (Carson-Newman)
1/16 | Jacob Crews (UT Martin)
1/23 | Mikhail Pocknett (King)
1/30 | John Zhao (Carson-Newman)
2/6 | Jordan Sears (UT Martin)
2/13 | John Zhao (Carson-Newman)
2/20 | Jestin Porter (Middle Tennessee)
2/27 | Jacob Crews (UT Martin)
3/5 | Jordan Sears (UT Martin)

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
11/14 | Kendal Cheesman (Belmont)
11/21 | Maya Buckhanon (Fisk)
11/28 | Jordyn Cambridge (Vanderbilt)
12/5 | Sacha Washington (Vanderbilt)
12/12 | Maya Buckhanon (Fisk)
12/19 | Jada Guinn (Chattanooga)
1/3 | Faith Wilken (Trevecca)
1/9 | Rickea Jackson (Tennessee)
1/16 | Anastasiia Boldyreva (Middle Tennessee)
1/23 | Reghan Grimes (Tennessee Tech)
1/30 | Anaya Brown (UT Martin)
2/6 | Olivia Falvey (Sewanee)
2/13 | Claira McGowan (Lipscomb)
2/20 | Maya Buckhanon (Fisk)
2/27 | Braelyn Wykle (Carson-Newman)
3/5 | Braelyn Wykle (Carson-Newman)

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)
3/5 | Player: Camden Kozeal (Vanderbilt); Pitcher: Will Pryor (Belmont)

SOFTBALL
2/20 | Player: Olivia Lipari (Chattanooga); Pitcher: Ashlan Sensing (Trevecca)
2/27 | Player: Zoey Neal (Union); Pitcher: Lainey Baker (Union)
3/5 | Player: Hayden Dye (Carson-Newman); Pitcher: Taylor Long (Chattanooga)

TSWA recognizes college players of the week - Feb. 27

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.

MEN’S BASKETBALL
11/14 | Jack Browder (Carson-Newman)
11/21 | Mikhail Pocknett (King)
11/28 | Jordan Sears (UT Martin)
12/5 | Reed Kemp (Maryville)
12/12 | Jalen Page (Trevecca)
12/19 | John Zhao (Carson-Newman)
1/3 | Nick Brenegan (Carson-Newman)
1/9 | Nick Brenegan (Carson-Newman)
1/16 | Jacob Crews (UT Martin)
1/23 | Mikhail Pocknett (King)
1/30 | John Zhao (Carson-Newman)
2/6 | Jordan Sears (UT Martin)
2/13 | John Zhao (Carson-Newman)
2/20 | Jestin Porter (Middle Tennessee)
2/27 | Jacob Crews (UT Martin)

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
11/14 | Kendal Cheesman (Belmont)
11/21 | Maya Buckhanon (Fisk)
11/28 | Jordyn Cambridge (Vanderbilt)
12/5 | Sacha Washington (Vanderbilt)
12/12 | Maya Buckhanon (Fisk)
12/19 | Jada Guinn (Chattanooga)
1/3 | Faith Wilken (Trevecca)
1/9 | Rickea Jackson (Tennessee)
1/16 | Anastasiia Boldyreva (Middle Tennessee)
1/23 | Reghan Grimes (Tennessee Tech)
1/30 | Anaya Brown (UT Martin)
2/6 | Olivia Falvey (Sewanee)
2/13 | Claira McGowan (Lipscomb)
2/20 | Maya Buckhanon (Fisk)
2/27 | Braelyn Wykle (Carson-Newman)

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)