FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas right hander Kevin Kopps was named national pitcher of the week Tuesday by Perfect Game.
Kopps threw a combined 111 pitches over 7 1/3 innings of scoreless relief and struck out 8 batters during 2 appearances against Georgia last weekend. Kopps extended his streak of consecutive scoreless innings to 21 2/3 — all against SEC teams — dating to an April 17 outing against Texas A&M.
Two days after recording a three-inning save, Kopps threw 4 1/3 innings in the series finale against Georgia to earn his seventh victory. He also has seven saves.
Kopps leads the NCAA with a 0.72 ERA and has 83 strikeouts in 49 2/3 innings. His SEC-only ERA is 0.45 in 14 appearances and 40 innings.
The Perfect Game award comes following a week during which at least four no-hitters were thrown by Division I pitchers — Justin Campbell of Oklahoma State, Fayetteville-native Walker Powell of Southern Miss, Nicholas Dombkowski of Hartford and Austin Vernon of North Carolina Central.
Last week, Kopps was named national pitcher of the month for April by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. The NCBWA also included Kopps on its midseason watch list for the Stopper of the Year Award, which is presented to college baseball's best relief pitcher.