BATON ROUGE, La. – A day after earning the league’s top weekly honor, LSU sophomore pitcher Carley Hoover hauled in another one on Tuesday as she was named the Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I National Pitcher of the Week the organization announced.
The national honor is the first for Hoover, as she becomes the first Tiger to be named the national pitcher of the week in program history. It’s the ninth time that an LSU player has earned one of the NFCA’s weekly awards, following Bianka Bell and former Tiger A.J. Andrews who pulled in the national player of the week award once each last season. Hoover is also the first SEC player this season to pull in an NFCA award.
“It was great to be able to be on the mound this week for my team. We played good ball this weekend with great defense and lots of runs scored,” Hoover said. “When my team scores an insane amount of runs like they have been its easier on me to get the job done. Every time I pitch is just an opportunity to do what I can to help my team win.”
Hoover helped LSU to a sweep of action in six games last week, appearing in three games and starting two, earning a 3-0 record with a spotless ERA allowing just two hits and includes her first career no-hitter in the finale of the LSU Invitational on Sunday afternoon against Tennessee Tech.
“Carley really helped lead our team to a great weekend on the field. She was absolutely dominant at times and had several outstanding performances,” head coach Beth Torina said. “She continues to grow every time she steps in the circle, and I’m sure this season has big things in store for her and our team.”
Hoover struck out 26 batters in 13.2 innings, averaging two strikeouts per inning, as opponents had a .047 batting average against her while she was in the circle. She retired the side eight times, including having a perfect inning on Sunday where she needed just three pitches to retire the side.
From the sixth inning of the Louisiana Tech game until the final out on Sunday, Hoover retired 21 of the final 24 batters she faced. The no-hitter was the 37th in LSU history.
On the season, Hoover has a 1.31 ERA to go along with her 8-0 season record, posting three shutouts with 74 strikeouts and an opponent batting average of 1.89.
LSU will be back in action on Tuesday, hosting a doubleheader against the Longwood Lancers beginning at 5 p.m. at Tiger Park in Baton Rouge.
For all of the latest news and information on Tiger softball, visit www.lsusports.net/softball. Fans can also follow the program on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/lsusoftball along with @lsusoftball and @BethTorina on Twitter and @lsusb on Instagram.