FRISCO, Texas – The New Orleans Privateers swept Southland Hitter and Pitcher of the Week awards as announced on Monday.
Gaige Howard won Hitter of the Week while
Chris Turpin earned the nod for Pitcher of the Week.
It's the first time the Privateers won both weekly awards in baseball since joining the Southland and the first instance Brandon Kling swept both Sun Belt Player and Pitcher of the Week honors in Mar. 2002.
Turpin turned in a masterpiece in the series opener against HBU to win Pitcher of the Week honors. He threw the first nine-inning shutout since Apr. 2017 and only needed 87 pitches to accomplish it in a 3-0 win on Friday against HBU.
Turpin struck out nine and walked none in his outing, the longest in his Privateer career. It's also the second time Turpin has won Southland Pitcher of the Week honors.
Gaige Howard piled up the hits in bunches against HBU. The senior outfielder went 10-for-19 with three doubles and six RBI. His batting average went up 98 points after the weekend and he's currently hitting at .322. Howard went 4-for-5 with three RBI as the Privateers rallied to an 11-10 win in the second game of the series.
For the season, Howard has seven multi-hit games, the most on the team. He has also reached base in eight straight games entering the weekend.
The Privateers take to the road for their first weekend outside of New Orleans. A four-game series at Stephen F. Austin starts on Friday with a first pitch set for 6:30 p.m.
