Near-Perfect Outing Nabs SEC Pitcher Of The Week Honors For Kelli Miller
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Having come within a handful of pitches of throwing just the second perfect game in school history, rookie righthander Kelli Miller (Colorado Springs, Colo./Liberty HS) was selected as this week's SEC Pitcher of the Week for her efforts in State's doubleheader sweep of No. 22 Georgia Tech on Saturday afternoon, the league office announced Monday.
Miller, who recorded her fifth consecutive victory with a one-hit shutout of the Yellow Jackets, is one of just five MSU pitchers to garner SEC Pitcher of the Week honors. The accomplishment also marked just the second time in school history that the Maroon and White have had a trio of SEC weekly award winners (2000) and the fourth consecutive season that the Bulldogs have had at least one conference player and pitcher of the week accolade.
"It was a great game for Kelli," said Mississippi State head coach Jay Miller. "When you get that close to a perfect game, you'd like to see them finish it out. But, the more important thing was the shutout. If you throw a shutout, you can never lose. You can throw a perfect game and still lose a ballgame. She got out of a jam in the seventh and made the pitches when she needed to and that shows a lot.
"She has been dominating people over her last few ball game and that is a good sign not only as we go into postseason, but down the road as well."
After not surrendering a walk or a hit through six innings of play, Miller had her bid for a perfect game broken up with a leadoff seeing-eye single in the seventh. Throwing just 63 pitches in the complete game victory, the rookie allowed just one ball to reach the outfield and, with two on and one out in the seventh, induced a game-ending double play to help the Bulldogs finish off the twinbill sweep of the visiting Yellow Jackets.
Miller is 10-8 on the season with a team-low 1.99 ERA and has held opponents to a .255 batting average in 112.1 innings of work. She possesses a strikeout-to-walk ratio of nearly 3-to-1 and has allowed the fewest walks per seven innings (1.17) on State's four-armed staff.
Miller has tallied four complete games during her current five-game winning streak and has allowed just four earned runs in 31 innings of work for an ERA of 0.90. In that same time span, she has allowed opponents to hit a miniscule .131 against her and has tallied two solo shutouts and one combined shutout.
Miller and the Bulldogs will return to action on Thursday when seventh-seeded Mississippi State (37-22) takes on second-seeded Tennessee (49-12) in the opening game of the 2004 SEC Tournament in Tuscaloosa, Ala. First pitch has been slated for 11 a.m. at the Alabama Softball Complex.
Single game and tournament passes can be purchased through the University of Alabama Ticket Office at (205) 348-BAMA or toll free at (877) TIDE-TIX.