Tanner Houck earns SEC Pitcher of the Week for the first time in his career.
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Mizzou freshman righty Tanner Houck (Collinsville, Ill.) was named SEC Pitcher of the Week on Monday (April 6) as announced by the league office. The award comes on the heels of a dominating start against No. 4 Florida in which he retired 21 of the first 22 batters he faced while taking a one-hit shutout into the eighth inning, helping Mizzou earn a 10-1 win and clinch its first series win over a top-five team since 2008.
This is the fourth time this season that a Tiger pitcher has been dubbed SEC Pitcher of the Week with the other three coming from junior righty Reggie McClain (Duluth, Ga.). Houck tossed 8.0 innings against the fourth-ranked Gators, scattering just four hits (three in the eighth) while walking none and striking out six. He gave up just one run in the start and did not work a three-ball count in the outing. He earned his team-leading fifth win of the season.
Following the outing, Houck lowered his ERA to 2.70, which ranks him 14th in the SEC this season. He is also 11th in the SEC in strikeouts and is second in innings pitched with 56.2 as a freshman. He has allowed the second-fewest walks in the SEC (five) and has allowed one or fewer walks in seven of his eight starts this season.
Houck and the Tigers return to the road this weekend as they head to Rocky Top to take on Tennessee in a three-game series which begins Thursday at 6 p.m. (CT) on SEC Network. For all the latest on Mizzou baseball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on twitter @MizzouBaseball.