(Photo Courtesy of Tennessee Athletics)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Tennessee senior pitcher Ellen Renfroe was named SEC Pitcher of the Week for the week of Feb. 10-16, as announced by the conference office on Monday.
Renfroe is the first Lady Vol to receive weekly honors in 2014. She has been named SEC Pitcher of the Week six 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).
Ellen Renfroe was untouchable from the circle yet again this week, going 2-0 for No. 1 Tennessee (9-0) with a pair of seven-inning shutouts and 12-strikeout performances against Pittsburgh and Illinois.
She had a no-hitter going through 6.2 innings against Pittsburgh on Feb. 14. Batter after batter, Renfroe sent the Panthers back to the dugout. She was just one out away from recording Tennessee’s 40th no-hitter and it would have been the third of her incredible Lady Vol career.
Renfroe had a gutsy performance in the circle against a previously-unbeaten Illinois team (8-0 entering the game) late on Saturday night. The game started at 10:40 p.m. ET due to previous games in the USF Tournament running long and ended at 1:05 a.m. ET Sunday morning. Renfroe was dominant from start to finish, fanning 12 Illinois batters over seven shutout innings to remain a perfect 4-0 with a perfect 0.00 ERA in four complete-game starts this season.
Renfroe has started 2014 with 26 consecutive shutout innings. As a sophomore in 2012, she started the year with 27.1 consecutive scoreless innings from the circle. Abbott owns the record for consecutive shutout innings to start a season, opening the 2005 campaign with 35.1 straight scoreless frames.
