(Photo Courtesy of Tennessee Athletics)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Tennessee senior pitcher Ellen Renfroe was named the SEC Pitcher of the Week for the week of Feb. 17-23, as announced by the conference office on Monday.
Renfroe has earned SEC Pitcher of the Week honors in back-to-back weeks as she earned the honors for the week of Feb. 10-16 as well. She has been named SEC Pitcher of the Week seven times in her illustrious UT career, most recently on April 8, 2013. Only Monica Abbott has received the award more times (16 times for 2004-07).
On the week, Renfroe went 3-0 with one save and a 0.72 ERA. She fanned 22 batters over 19.1 frames with just two earned runs allowed. On the season, she is 7-0 with a 0.31 ERA and 61 strikeouts over 45.1 innings in the circle.
Renfroe earned a pair of wins over ranked opponents, going seven strong with nine strikeouts and just one earned run allowed to defeat No. 11/12 Nebraska on Saturday and throwing seven inning with seven strikeouts and no earned runs in a win over No. 13/11 Stanford on Sunday. She earned her first save of the season against Oregon State, pitching the final 2.1 frames with five strikeouts and one earned run allowed. She earned the win in relief as UT rallied back late to defeat Fresno State late on Sunday. Renfroe tossed three scoreless frames with one strikeout.
Renfroe recorded her 800th career strikeout in the win against No. 11/12 Nebraska on Saturday. She is just the second UT player to reach 800 strikeouts, trailing only Abbott (NCAA Record 2,440).