BASEBALL: Middle Tennessee’s Kemp, Vanderbilt’s Ruppenthal garner TSWA accolades
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Middle Tennessee’s Ryan Kemp and Vanderbilt’s Matt Ruppenthal were named the Baseball Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, by the Tennessee Sports Writers Association on Wednesday for their performances for April 3-9.
Kemp batted .667 (10-for-15) in four games for the Blue Raiders with four doubles, two home runs, five RBIs and seven runs scored. The Hendersonville, Tenn., native doubled, walked twice and drove in a run at Tennessee to start the week.
The junior collected three hits with a solo homer and scored three times in the first game of the series against Old Dominion and added two hits with a double and one run scored in the second contest versus the Monarchs. In the series finale Kemp was a triple short of the cycle, going 4-for-4 with two doubles, a home run, three RBIs and three runs scored.
He added four walks and three stolen bases in the four games during the week as well. He is batting .357 overall, second-best on the club, with eight doubles, three home runs, nine RBIs and 17 runs scored in 19 games this season.
Ruppenthal tossed seven shutout innings of relief in Vanderbilt’s 13-inning, 5-3 victory on Friday at South Carolina, helping the Commodores clinch the series. The outing tied his career long for the junior righthander, who retired the final 14 batters of the game. He scattered only two hits and struck out three with no walks in his first win of the season. He did not allow a runner past first base and allowed three total baserunners in the seven innings of work.
Ruppenthal is 1-1 with a 1.59 ERA in 13 appearances this season, all in relief, striking out 23 in 28.1 innings of work. He has allowed just 13 hits with seven walks and opponents are batting .137 against him.
2017 TSWA BASEBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
February 14 – Ryan Addington, Carson-Newman (Player); Travis Dohr, Cumberland University (Pitcher)
February 21 – Nolen Milton, Union University (Player); Evan Heffner, Maryville College (Pitcher)
February 28 – Collin Harris, Tennessee Tech (Player); Brady Puckett, Lipscomb (Pitcher)
March 8 – Wade Weinburger, Bryan College (Player); Michael Wood, Tennessee Tech (Pitcher)
March 15 – Ryan Flick, Tennessee Tech (Player); Alex Robles, Austin Peay (Pitcher)
March 21 – Austin Krajnak, Cumberland University (Player); JR Miller, Union University (Pitcher)
March 29 – Matt Jones, Tennessee Tech (Player); Trey Sledge, Rhodes College (Pitcher)
April 6 – J.P. Castaneda, King University (Player); Octavio Mirabal, King University (Pitcher)
SOFTBALL: Trevecca’s Richardson, UT Martin’s Kennedy named TSWA award winners
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Trevecca University’s Alex Richardson and UT Martin’s Brooke Kennedy were named the Softball Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, by the Tennessee Sports Writers Association on Wednesday for their performances for April 3-9.
Richardson batted .500 (8-for-16) in six games with four doubles, four runs scored and three RBIs, adding three walks and two hit pitches. The Ten Mile, Tenn., native posted two hits with a double, one RBI and a run scored in the second game of a doubleheader with Kentucky Wesleyan.
She was 3-for-4 with two doubles, one RBI and one run scored in the first of four games against Ohio Valley University and added a single with a walk and a run scored in the second game of the doubleheader. The senior outfielder collected two hits with another double, one RBI and a run scored in the final game of the series as well, reaching base with a walk and a hit pitch in the contest as well.
Richardson is batting .269 with seven doubles, a team-best six home runs, 24 RBIs and 18 runs scored this season for the Trojans.
Kennedy posted a 2-1 mark with a 1.75 ERA in 20.0 innings over three outings, allowing just 15 hits with 18 strikeouts. The Bath Springs, Tenn., native suffered a loss to Memphis, giving up four runs, one earned, on seven hits with five strikeouts.
The senior righthander struck out seven in a complete-game victory over Murray State, scattering seven hits, and finished the week with a one-hit shutout against Austin Peay, striking out six. Kennedy improved to 14-3 with a 2.77 ERA in 20 appearances with 84 strikeouts in 106.0 innings this season.
2017 TSWA SOFTBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
February 14 – Lexi Cushing, Middle Tennessee (Player); Brooklin Lee, Belmont (Pitcher)
February 21 – Chelsey Deloney, Belmont (Player); McCarley Thomas, Lipscomb (Pitcher)
February 28 – Ashley Scott, Union University (Player); Mandy Jordan, Lipscomb (Pitcher)
March 8 – Morgan Brewer, Maryville College (Player); Hayley Smothers, King University (Pitcher)
March 15 – Kay Brokering, King University (Player); Nicole Blackburn, Maryville College (Pitcher)
March 21 – Jess Andree, Belmont (Player); Mandy Jordan, Lipscomb (Pitcher)
March 29 – Taylor Scott, Carson-Newman (Player); Savannah Carr, Trevecca University (Pitcher)
April 6 – Paige Robertson, Union University (Player); Lacie Rinus, Carson-Newman (Pitcher)
