Southeast Missouri State's Jacob Lawrence named OVC Pitcher of the Week

Southeast Missouri State junior pitcher Jacob Lawrence's win over nationally-ranked Missouri on Tuesday garnered him Ohio Valley Conference pitcher of the week honors Monday.

Lawrence, a 6-foot-5, 190-pound righty from Nixa, Missouri, was selected as co-pitcher of the week along with Belmont's Aaron Quillen.

Lawrence, who transferred from Eastern Oklahoma State College, made his fourth start of the season against the then-No. 21 Tigers and allowed three runs on six hits in 7 2/3 innings of work. Two of the runs he was tagged with scored after he'd exited the game in the bottom of the eighth.

He was perfect through the first three innings and had a one-hit shutout through five innings. He did not walk a batter and struck out seven for his first win of the season.

Lawrence also pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings in a one-run loss to Indiana State on Sunday. He allowed three hits and issued one walk.

The Redhawks have claimed the conference's weekly pitching honor five times this season -- Lawrence, Alex Winkelman and Travis Hayes have each been awarded it once while Joey Lucchesi has received it twice.

Southeast, which has a two-game lead in first place of the OVC standings, travels to Nashville, Tennessee, for its final regular-season series against Belmont.

The Redhawks can claim their second consecutive regular-season conference championship outright with two wins against the Bruins or with two losses by second-place Morehead State and a loss by third-place SIU Edwardsville.

The three-game series begins at 5 p.m. Thursday. Game 2 is set for 5 p.m. Friday and the finale is at 1 p.m. Saturday.