ROCK HILL, S.C. – For the second straight week a Carson-Newman hurler takes home the Astroturf South Atlantic Conference Pitcher of the Week plaudit as Greg Valentine wins his first-career honor announced Tuesday morning by the league.
He becomes the first Eagle reliever to win the honor from the league since Carson Bryant did so on April 7, 2015 after notching three saves and a win on the rubber.
The right-hander worked in two games last week going 2-0 allowing just one earned run on six hits and a walk while striking out nine batters over 6 1/3 frames on the mound.
Valentine started the week by going 1 2/3 innings against 14th-ranked Northwood striking out a trio of batters in the outing to pick up the victory and seal the three-game set in favor of C-N. It was the first series win over a nationally-ranked team for the Eagles since sweeping No. 19 Tusculum on Feb. 15-17, 2013 while it's the first series win over a ranked non-conference unit since a sweep of 22nd-ranked Northern Kentucky on Feb. 14-15, 2009.
In a 5-3 win over Newberry in the first game of the series. Valentine faced the minimum in three of his four full frames of work. The Knoxville, Tenn. native earned his third win of the year while matching his career-high for K's set at Limestone on Feb. 2, 2018. He also threw 4 2/3 innings at Catawba on Feb. 25, 2017.
Overall on the year, the righty is 3-0 with a 1.26 ERA with 19 punch outs in 14 1/3 innings on the mound. His earned run average ranks second in the SAC while his seven appearances are third-most. His three victories put him in a three-way tie for first in the conference. Striking out 11.93 batters per nine frames, he is fifth.
C-N is in action this afternoon against King starting at 2 p.m. as broadcast coverage opens at 1:45 p.m. with "The AEC Countdown to First Pitch" on the Eagle Sports Network.
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