Smith and Dowdell II Sweep SCAC Pitcher and Player of the Week Awards

LAWRENCEVILLE, Georgia - Austin Smith and Byron Dowdell II sweep the SCAC pitcher and player of the week awards for their performance in the recent games this weekend against the University of Dallas.

Smith, a sophomore right-hander from Cedar Park, Texas, has won his third SCAC Baseball Pitcher of the Week award for games played from Monday, April 15th through Sunday, April 21st.

Smith threw a complete game no-hitter in the Pirates series opener against Dallas to spark Southwestern to a three-game sweep of the Crusaders and improve to 22-14 overall, the most wins since 2009 for SU. The sophomore recorded his fifth double-digit strikeout game in a row and his seventh this season, striking out 10 in his seven innings of work. His performance raises his strikeout total to 96 which leads the SCAC and dropped his ERA to 2.42, which is currently third best in the conference.

Other Outstanding Performances: Texas Lutheran senior pitcher Drew Waller tossed 1.1 innings in relief over two games last Friday. He recorded a one-out save in the first game, preserving a 10-8 TLU win. Waller then appeared in a non-save situation in the late game as Austin College threatened to make the game close. With two runners on and no outs, Waller induced a 5-4-3 ground ball triple play to finish the 13-8 win. Waller did not allow a hit against the 'Roos in his two appearances. Junior Carter Fronk of Trinity earned the win in his only appearance last week, sparking the Tigers to a three-game SCAC sweep over Schreiner University. Fronk came on in relief in the opening game of the series, allowing one run on five hits over 6.0 innings, and striking out ten batters.

Dowdell II, a junior outfielder from Sugar Land, Texas, has been named the SCAC Baseball Hitter of the Week for games played from Monday, April 15th through Sunday, April 21st.

Dowdell II hit for power and average, blasting two home runs with three doubles last week helping the Pirates to a perfect 4-0 record including a three-game sweep against Dallas to secure Southwestern's spot in the SCAC tournament. He hit .588 (10-for17) with a 1.118 slugging percentage and 11 RBI with six runs scored.

Other Outstanding Performances: Texas Lutheran freshman shortstop Joe Jimenez hit .727 with a home run, a triple and seven RBI during a three-game series sweep of Austin College. Jimenez went 4-for-4 with three runs scored and a walk-off solo home run in the series opener, a 14-4 run-rule win. In the Friday doubleheader, Jimenez went a combined 4-for-7 with three RBI. He had the game-winning RBI in the 10-8 victory in the early game Friday. Trinity senior outfielder Jake Martin led the Tigers to a 4-0 record last week, including a three-game CAC series sweep over Schreiner. Martin went 8-for-18 (.444) at the dish overall but batted .500 (7-for-14) in conference play. Martin had four doubles, adding five RBI and one run scored.