MSU's Alan Johnson Earns SEC Pitcher Of The Week Award
May 25, 2016 | Baseball
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- For the second time this season Mississippi State sophomore pitcher Alan Johnson has been tabbed as the Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the Week.
Johnson, a right-hander from Pleasant Grove, Ala., recorded his first route-going pitching performance Saturday, tossing a complete-game, two-hit shutout in Mississippi State's series-clinching 7-0 win at No. 29 Ole Miss. Pitching in front of a season-high 5,752 fans at Oxford-University Stadium, Johnson faced just two batters over the minimum. He gave up one walk and two singles, one of which was erased on a double play. Johnson gave up a one-out single and a walk in the fourth inning, but retired the final 17 batters he faced on a 97-pitch outing.
The two hits allowed was a season staff-best for Bulldog pitchers and a season team-low for UM's hitters.
It's the second weekly pitching honor of the year for Johnson, who was cited March 3 by the league and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA), carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning of MSU's 10-1 win over East Tennessee State. In that seven-plus inning start, his second as a Bulldog, Johnson struck out a staff season-high 11, did not issue a walk, and faced one over the minimum through seven innings of pitching.
He joins former MSU All-American and Major League standout Jeff Brantley as the only Bulldog pitchers to earn the award twice in one season.
Mississippi State (22-3-1, 8-1 SEC) climbed to No. 6, its highest ranking since 1999, in the latest poll conducted by Arizona-based Collegiate Baseball magazine. MSU puts an eight-game winning streak on the line when the Bulldogs entertains UAB (21-6) Tuesday in a 6:30 p.m. game at Dudy Noble Field. State travels to Smith-Wills Stadium in Jackson to take on Mississippi (17-10) at 6:30 p.m. in the Mayor's Trophy Game and then hosts SEC Eastern Division foe Kentucky (10-17, 0-9 SEC) Friday at 6:30 p.m. to open a three-game conference series in Starkville.
