The University of Mississippi Athletics
Stephen Head Named NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week
4/29/2003 | Baseball
April 29, 2003
CHICAGO - Ole Miss freshman left-hander Stephen Head was named the National Pitcher of the Week by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) on Tuesday. Lamar junior outfielder Jordan Foster was named National Hitter of the Week, while Mississippi freshman LHP Stephen Head was named National Pitcher of the Week. The NCBWA Board reviews candidates from each Division I Conference each week and names winners each Tuesday throughout the season.
Head recorded a win and a save in two appearances against South Carolina this past weekend to help Ole Miss to its first series win over the Gamecocks since 1995. He recorded his ninth save of the year in Friday's 6-5 win, working 2.0 innings in relief. Head started Sunday's game and fired a complete-game, two-hit shutout in a 2-0 Ole Miss win, after South Carolina had recorded 33 hits in the first two games of the series. He used just 86 pitches in his Sunday start to record the first complete-game shutout by a Rebel pitcher since 2001. Head did not allow a hit after the fifth inning and allowed only one runner to reach second base the entire game.
He was also named the Southeastern Conference's Pitcher of the Week on Monday.
"This is a tremendous honor for Stephen, but one that is also well deserved," said Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco. "He's done an outstanding job all year long. To earn a save on Friday and then comeback on Sunday and two-hit a team that had recorded 33 hits in two previous games was amazing. He really was the difference last weekend."
Foster hit .706 (12-for-17) with seven runs scored, two doubles, a triple, two home runs and 14 RBI in helping Lamar post a 4-0 record last week. He also posted a 1.294 slugging percentage and a .750 on-base percentage. Foster went 2-for-4, hit his first career grand slam and had a career-best five RBI in Lamar's 9-5 win over third-ranked Rice on April 23. In Lamar's three-game sweep over Nicholls State, Foster hit .769 (10-for-13) with six runs scored, two doubles, a triple, a home run and nine RBI. He posted a 1.300 slugging percentage and a .800 on-base percentage. Foster went 4-for-5 with two RBI in the Cardinals' 12-9 win on Friday and was 4-for-4 with a double, a home run and a career-high seven RBI in Saturday's 16-8 win. He closed out the series by going 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
Ole Miss is 28-18 on the season after defeating Tennessee Tech 4-1 Monday evening in Oxford. The Rebels will play Tuesday night at Arkansas State before opening a three-game Southeastern Conference series at Arkansas, Friday night at 6:30 p.m.
