Leslie Jury Named SEC Pitcher of the Week
4/27/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala . - After going 2-0 while allowing just one run over 11.1 innings pitched this week, Alabama senior pitcher Leslie Jury has been named SEC Pitcher of the Week, announced by the league office Monday.
Jury earned two wins and a save this weekend, throwing 11.1 innings over three appearances while allowing just one earned run (0.62 ERA) while striking out 10 batters. She started her week with a win in relief against Troy on Tuesday, throwing 2.1 shutout innings with just one hit allowed as the Crimson Tide rallied from a 2-0 deficit to eventually win, 5-2. She earned her next start in game two against 11th-ranked Tennessee on Friday, holding one of the SEC's top power-hitting offenses to just one run on five hits, three of which were singles, to earn her second win of the week.
The team turned to Jury again in a crucial situation in Saturday's rubber match, as she entered with two outs in the fifth inning with the bases loaded holding a 6-3 lead. Before she could even throw her first pitch, lightning in the area forced a delay of nearly an hour before play could resume. Upon resumption, she promptly struck out the batter to strand the bases loaded, as she went on to throw 2.1 shutout innings with just one hit allowed to earn the save, her third of the season.
So far this season, the Anderson, S.C., native is 9-3 with a 2.17 ERA and has struck out 97 batters over 100.0 innings. She owns a 2.56 ERA in conference play, which ranks fifth among all SEC pitchers. She ranks eighth all-time at Alabama in career innings pitched (442.1) and is seventh in opposing batting average (.233) and strikeouts-per-game (5.79).
This is Jury's first career Pitcher of the Week award and the sixth overall weekly conference honor earned by an Alabama player so far this season. The six awards are the most for Alabama since 2012 and it marks the seventh season in program history in which the team has earned at least six conference honors. It is also the first time since 2011 in which Alabama has had two different pitchers earn SEC Pitcher of the Week awards throughout the season.
Along with Jury this season, sophomore Sydney Littlejohn was named Pitcher of the Week twice, Demi Turner was named Freshman of the Week twice and Haylie McCleney was named Player of the Week once.
Jury shares this week's SEC Pitcher of the Week honor with Florida senior Lauren Haeger. Fellow Gator Kelsey Stewart was named the Player of the Week while Florida's Nicole DeWitt shares the Freshman of the Week honor with Missouri's Paige Lowary.
