MSU Righty Kendall Graveman Named SEC Pitcher Of The Week
In his league-leading second route-going performance and 10th start of the season, Graveman scattered three hits, walked two and matched a career-best with eight strikeouts as Mississippi State clinched its Super Bulldog Weekend series against Tennessee with a 7-1 win at Dudy Noble Field. He retired 13 of the last 14 batters he faced and only three of his 101 pitches left the infield, two on singles and one on a fly ball caught in left field.
It is the first career SEC weekly honor for the Alexander City, Ala., product and the second for a Bulldog pitcher in 2012. Another MSU junior right-hander, Chris Stratton, was tabbed for SEC Pitcher of the Week accolades March 19 after a remarkable 17-strikeout performance at LSU in his first start of the season. Graveman capped that opening weekend for league play in Baton Rouge with his first complete-game pitching performance of the year and the second of his career, a nine-inning 7-1 win that featured 19 groundball outs.
Mississippi State takes on Southern Miss in a 6:30 p.m. game Tuesday at Trustmark Park in Pearl, Miss., before hosting instate rival Ole Miss in a three-game SEC weekend series at Dudy Noble Field. Friday's 7 p.m. series-opener as well as the 2 p.m. Saturday contest and Sunday's 1:30 p.m. series finale will be televised.