Photo Courtesy of Tennessee Athletics
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. –– No. 2 Tennessee took two out of three of the SEC weekly awards. Ellen Renfroe has been named SEC Pitcher of the Week and Annie Aldrete has been tabbed SEC Freshman of the Week, as announced by the conference office on Monday.
This week’s honor marks Renfroe’s third time as SEC Pitcher of the Week this year. She previously earned the award on Feb. 17 and Feb. 24. Renfroe has been named SEC Pitcher of the Week eight times in her incredible Tennessee career, which is second-most behind only Monica Abbott’s 16 times receiving the award form 2004-07.
Aldrete earns SEC Freshman of the Week for the second time this season. She was previously SEC Freshman of the Week on March 17. The last Lady Vol to earn SEC Freshman of the Week twice in a season was Ellen Renfroe in 2011.
Tennessee (31-3, 8-1 SEC) swept No. 4 Florida this weekend for the first time since 2004. The Lady Vols are the first team to sweep Florida in an SEC series since Kentucky swept the Gators in April of 2011.
Renfroe went 3-0 on the week with a pair of complete games and two shutout relief innings that earned her a win in Game 2. She posted a 0.88 ERA and 20 strikeouts over 16.0 innings against the No. 4 team in the nation.
Renfroe fanned seven and allowed just two earned runs in UT’s 9-2 win over the Gators on March 28. Game 2 on March 30 was suspended to play a televised Game 3 on CSS. In game 3, Renfroe struck out 11 batters and allowed no earned runs in a seven-inning win. She threw two scoreless relief frames with two strikeouts when Game 2 resumed later Sunday afternoon as UT came back for a 7-6 win. Renfroe’s 11 strikeouts vs. Florida in Game 3 marked her fifth game with 10 or more strikeouts this season.
Renfroe has accounted for all of Tennessee’s wins against ranked opponents this year. She previously threw complete-game wins against No. 11/12 Nebraska on Feb. 22 and No. 13/11 Stanford on Feb. 23. Renfroe is 5-0 against ranked opponents this year with a stellar 0.70 ERA, 36 strikeouts over 30 innings, only three earned runs allowed and a .151 batting average for opposing hitters.
On the season, Renfroe leads the conference in wins (21-0) and ERA (1.29) and she is tied for the lead with 162 strikeouts.
Aldrete enjoyed an impressive week against the Gators. She was the driving force behind UT’s 9-2 win on Friday, going 3-for-4 with career bests of three hits, two home runs, six RBIs and two runs. Aldrete hit a pair of three-run homers and her six RBIs were the most by any Tennessee player since Lauren Gibson tied the program record with nine RBIs against Ole Miss on April 20, 2013.
On Sunday, Aldrete drew three walks in Game 2 of the series and had a hit and two walks in Game 3.
On the week, Aldrete posted an incredible 2.321 OPS with a 1.571 slugging percentage and a .750 on-base percentage.
Aldrete is batting .407 on the year with seven homers, nine doubles, two triples 30 RBIs and 18 runs. She has a .780 slugging percentage and .513 on-base percentage and a 1.293 OPS.
Tennessee’s April 1 game against Appalachian State has been canceled due to scheduling conflicts and it will be re-scheduled at a later date. UT next heads to Baton Rouge, La., for a three-game series at LSU from April 4-6.
