May 7, 2007

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - (Monday, May 7, 2007) Senior Asif Shah was named the Ohio Valley Conference Co-Pitcher of the Week for his two-hit shutout performance in a start Sunday at Eastern Kentucky. It is the second time this season that Shah has earned the weekly conference pitching honor, and he also was named Co-Player of the Week earlier this year. Shah is sharing this week's award with Jacksonville State starting pitcher Donovan Hand.

Shah, a senior from Cincinnati, Ohio, threw his conference-leading third shutout of the season Sunday at Eastern Kentucky in a 1-0 victory. He picked up his sixth win of the season, which leads the team, as he defeated All-American pitcher Christian Friedrich. Shah gave up just two hits (his career best in a complete game) and allowed only three base runners. The southpaw retired 18 of the first 19 batters he faced, including 13 in a row beginning with the final out of the second inning. Meanwhile, Shah's double in the second inning was the only hit of the game for Southeast, and he eventually came around to score the only run of the contest.

The senior left-hander, who came to Southeast last season from Wabash Valley Community College, became just the fifth pitcher in Southeast history to throw three or more shutouts in a season. He will tie the single-season record with his next shutout; Trae Hastings set the current record of four in 1976.

The southpaw, who came to Southeast last season from Wabash Valley Community College, is 6-2 on the year with a 2.82 earned run average through 73.1 innings pitched. His ERA ranks fourth in the conference, and he is also fourth in the league with 63 strikeouts; he is the only pitcher in the OVC with three shutouts. Meanwhile, opposing batters are hitting just .233 against the lefty, which ties him with teammate Dustin Renfrow for fourth in the conference.

Shah, who is the first baseball player in OVC history to win Pitcher and Player of the Week honors in the same season, has now won a weekly honor three times this season. He earned his first Pitcher of the Week award on February 26 before earning Co-Player honors on March 26. The senior was also recently named to the Revised Brooks Wallace Player of the Year Award Watch List on Wednesday.

Hand, a senior right-handed pitcher, gave up two singles to the first two batters of the game, and then did not allow a hit as he pitched a seven-inning complete-game to lead the Gamecocks to a 14-1 win over Tennessee Tech on Saturday. He faced just four batters over the minimum after allowing just two base runners after the first inning. It was a career-best pitching performance as he finished with five strikeouts (to only one walk) and held Tech batters to hit only .091 against the right-hander. Hand has now won the OVC Pitcher of the Week award three times this season and five times in his career.

The weekly conference honor is the seventh bestowed upon a Southeast baseball player this season. Besides Shah's three honors, junior Dustin Renfrow has been named Pitcher of the Week on three occasions, and sophomore Matt Wagner earned the first Player of the Week honor of the season.