April 21, 2008

MACON, Ga. - Senior Brittany Matthews can now say that in 2008 she has been honored by the Atlantic Sun Conference one time for each finger on her throwing hand as the Owls' lefty was named the A-Sun Pitcher of the Week for the fifth time this season on Monday afternoon.

The Brooks, Ga. native has earned the accolade a total of nine times in the last two seasons. Matthews was honored on February 11, March 3, March 10 and March 31 of this season, in addition to the four occasions in which she won the award last season.

For the week ending April 20, Matthews went 2-0 with a pair of saves in five appearances. She recorded 36 strikeouts in 19.2 innings of work, while allowing just nine hits and one earned run.

The Professional Sales major started the week by striking out 14 batters to beat Mercer, 3-1. She played in the second game of the sweep of the Bears, coming out of the bullpen to fan three Bears batters to pick up the save. With her second strikeout of the nightcap, Matthews broke the KSU single-season strikeout mark, which previously stood at 252.

After pitching just two-thirds of an inning in relief against Jacksonville State, Matthews again returned to her dominating form as the Owls won their sixth straight conference game with a sweep of Campbell. She recorded another 14 strikeouts to pick up the win in game one, before again coming out of the pen for two innings of scoreless relief to pick up her league-leading sixth save of the year.

Matthews has lowered her ERA to 1.33, moving her to third in the A-Sun. She continues to lead the conference and remains in the top 15 in the nation with 273 strikeouts.

KSU will be return to the field on Thursday with a doubleheader at Gardner-Webb, before being back home for Senior Day and the season finale against East Tennessee State on Saturday.