March 17, 2008

By Tyler Koonce, Baseball Contact

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. - Redshirt junior left-hander James Leigh (Bryant, Ark./Texarkana CC) was named Ohio Valley Conference Co-Pitcher of the Week Monday. Players are nominated and voted on by the league's Sports Information Directors. Leigh shares the honor with Eastern Kentucky standout Christian Friedrich, who took a no-hitter into the seventh inning against the University of Illinois Friday.

In two outings last week, Leigh earned victories against Memphis and Lyon, throwing eight total innings with 13 strikeouts and only one earned run allowed. In his start Saturday against Memphis, he tossed six innings and notched 10 strikeouts, giving up only four hits and the one earned run. On Monday, he pitched two innings of scoreless relief with three strikeouts to get the win in a combined shutout versus Lyon College.

Leigh leads the OVC with a perfect 3-0 record, 1.06 ERA and average of 14.82 strikeouts per nine innings. Overall, he has pitched 17 innings with 28 strikeouts, yielding only 11 hits and two earned runs. He is holding opposing hitters to a .183 batting average.

Leigh is the first Southeast player to win a weekly honor this season. Dustin Renfrow (West Plains, Mo./Jefferson CC) won the pitcher accolades on three occasions last year.