BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Jacksonville State’s Bert Smith and Ben Tootle have been named the Ohio Valley Conference Player and Pitcher of the Week, the league office announced on Monday.Smith earned his first career Player of the Week honor, while Tootle earned his third Pitcher of the Week honor as Jacksonville State won all five games to extended its winning streak to 12 games, the second longest active streak in the nation.
Smith, from Pelham High School, hit .550 last week, while scoring eight runs, hitting three doubles and finishing with nine RBI, while not committing an error in the field.
Smith had four multiple-hit games and finished the week with a .700 slugging percentage as JSU won a pair of games over in-state rival UAB and then swept Tennessee Tech in OVC play.
Tootle, from Oxford, was masterful in a 4-0 victory over the Golden Eagles on Saturday, tossing a seven-inning complete game shutout over Tech. He allowed only two hits, walked three and struck out four in improving to 9-2 on the season and a perfect 7-0 in OVC play.
Tootle had a no-hitter into the sixth inning, effectively shutting down the league’s top-hitting team. For the game, TTU hit just .087 against Tootle, who did not allow a leadoff hitter to reach base the entire game. The right-hander is now 11-1 in two years against OVC and has won 10 straight games vs conference opponents.
Jacksonville State can wrap up the regular season championship this weekend at Tennessee-Martin.
The Gamecocks hold a game-and-a-half lead over Samford, which plays at Tennessee Tech.
