ROCK HILL, S.C. – For the first time in his career, Ryan Higgins has been named WePlayed Sports Baseball Pitcher of the Week by the South Atlantic Conference, the league office announced Tuesday afternoon.
Ryan Higgins joins catcher Nicholas Castellana as Carson-Newman's second player to earn a weekly honor in the first three weeks of the season. Higgins is the first pitcher to be recognized for a weekly award since Jake Wright on March 23rd, 2021. That 2021 season is also the last time the Eagles had multiple players recognized for a weekly award.
The sophomore starting pitcher is coming off arguably, his best performance as a collegiate pitcher. He tossed seven scoreless and hitless innings in a 7-0 victory over Emory & Henry in the series opener on Friday afternoon.
Higgins was in a groove from the second he stepped on the mound. He sent the first 18 E&H batters down in order and had pitched a perfect game through the first six innings of his start. His perfect game bid came to an end at the start of the seventh inning but managed to toss another scoreless inning and end his start with no hits allowed and let just two baserunners reach.
"I was just trying to go out there and do my job," Higgins said. "Throw strikes and get the guys in here to hit. Obviously, after the fourth or fifth inning I looked up there and saw what it was. You just got to take it one pitch at a time and that's really what my mentality was. Focus on one pitch at a time and whatever happens after that happens. I knew I was pitching well enough and I just had to keep doing what I was doing."
This weekly honor comes at a good time because the sophomore right-hander has been outstanding in his first three starts this season. He's posted a 3-0 record over 19 innings and has now allowed a run to score. No pitcher in DII has more innings pitched with zero runs allowed than Higgins to start the year.
The Spotslyvania, Virginia native has 21 strikeouts with just five hits and five walks allowed in his three starts to start 2025.
Higgins and the Eagles are action today against Lee. First pitch from Larry Carpenter Stadium is set for 3:00 p.m. There will be a free audio stream available courtesy of the Eagle Sports Network on cneagles.com/live.
