March 18, 2008
FRISCO, Texas - Lamar left-hander Tim Erickson was named the Southland Conference Pitcher of the Week, as announced by the league office on Tuesday.
A senior from Sour Lake, Texas, Erickson struck out nine and limited opponents to .147 hitting in 10.0 innings over two appearances last week. He pitched a perfect ninth at Louisiana-Monroe on Wednesday with two strikeouts and came out of the bullpen after five batters on Sunday to shut down Texas-Arlington, working a career-high 9.0 innings for a 9-5 win to clinch the series for Lamar. He struck out seven while allowing just five hits and two of these came in the ninth, and from the 5th to the 9th innings he retired 14-consecutive batters as nine failed to get the ball out of the infield.
This marks the first weekly award from the SLC for Erickson and the first for a Cardinal since March 19 of last season when Collin DeLome earned Hitter of the Week. The last time an LU hurler earned a weekly league honor was Feb. 14, 2006 when William Delage took home the award.
Erickson, who was named to both the Wallace Award and NCBWA Stopper of the Year Watch Lists, has yet to allow a run in 19.1 innings this season. He is 1-0 with five saves in 10 appearances. He has struck out 17 and allowed just 11 hits on the season.
Lamar (11-7, 2-1 SLC) will play host to Stephen F. Austin (9-8, 1-2 SLC) in a three-game series at Vincent-Beck Stadium this weekend. The teams will play at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, and Saturday at 1 p.m.
