FAYETTEVILLE -- University of Arkansas baseball players Casey Martin and Connor Noland both earned weekly honors from the SEC after the Razorbacks capped a 4-0 week with a three-game sweep of No. 2 Mississippi State at Baum-Walker Stadium.
Martin, of Lonoke, was named SEC Player of the Week after hitting .471 with 5 of his 8 hits and 6 of his 10 RBI for the week coming against Mississippi State. The shortstop had a pair of four RBI games, including his first grand slam in a 12-5 victory of the Bulldogs on Friday.
Martin has a .391 average in his past 10 games, with 8 extra-base hits and 11 RBI to raise his season average to .295. He and teammate Dominic Fletcher have 17 doubles to tie for the SEC lead along with Mississippi State's Jake Mangum.
Noland, of Greenwood, was named SEC co-Freshman of the Week after picking up his first two collegiate victories. Noland got the win in the Razorbacks' 16-4 victory over the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff last Tuesday before turning in his best start of the season Saturday against Mississippi State.
Noland pitched a career-best 72/3 innings and did not allow a run on 4 hits and 1 walk while striking out 5 in a 10-2 victory that gave Arkansas a sweep of the Bulldogs.
"It was big for him, No. 1, to go out there and do that," Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said. "He had a really good slider going and he was spotting his fastball up."
Noland shared the honors with LSU pitcher Cole Henry, who posted 12 strikeouts in 51/3 innings and limited Florida to 4 hits in a 13-1 victory for the Tigers on Friday.
Van Horn said when junior right-hander Cody Scroggins returns from resting his arm, he and pitching coach Matt Hobbs will have to decide whether Noland or Scroggins goes into the weekend rotation.
Sports on 04/23/2019