FRISCO, Texas — New Orleans’ Gaige Howard and Chris Turpin are the Southland Conference Hitter and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, the league announced Monday. Weekly awards are presented by Hercules Tires.
Howard collected 10 hits on the week, hitting. 526 with six RBI to power the Privateers to a four-game sweep of Houston Baptist to begin conference play. Turpin set the tone for the series with a complete-game shutout on Friday night. UNO (9-7, 4-0 SLC) visits Stephen F. Austin for a four-game series beginning with a 6:30 p.m. CT first pitch on Friday.
Hitter of the Week – Gaige Howard, New Orleans – Senior – Outfielder – Carlsbad, Calif.
Howard went 2-for-3 in the series opening 3-0 win over the Huskies, doubling in a run on the second at-bat of the first inning to put the Privateers on the board and later scoring on a Salo Iza sac fly. He carried that momentum into the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader, hitting 4-for-5, including a bases-clearing double that sparked a six-run comeback in the second and third innings.
For the third-straight game, Howard registered a run-scoring double with a two-bagger in the third inning of the 8-2 victory. He finished out the series going 3-for-4 in the series finale with a RBI base hit that put New Orleans ahead for good in the 9-2 win.
Honorable Mention: Wilson Ehrhardt, UIW; Preston Faulkner, Southeastern Louisiana; Brett Hammit, Abilene Christian.
Pitcher of the Week – Chris Turpin, New Orleans – Senior – Starting Pitcher – Belle Chasse, La.
Improving to 3-0 on the year, Turpin turned in his second-straight start without allowing an earned run after tossing the program’s first nine-inning shutout since 2017. He needed just 87 pitches to navigate through the HBU lineup for 27 outs, finishing with nine strikeouts and zero walks.
Turpin retired the first six batters of the ballgame and didn’t surrender a hit until a two-out single broke up the no-hitter with two outs in the fifth inning. He struck out at least one batter in all but two frames and struck out a pair in the first and third innings.
Honorable Mention: Beau Balado, Nicholls; Tyler Cleveland, Central Arkansas; Will Warren, Southeastern Louisiana; Isaiah Zavala, UIW.
Southland weekly award winners are nominated and voted upon by each school’s sports information director. Voting for one’s own athlete is not permitted. To earn honorable mention, a student-athlete must appear on 25 percent of ballots.
2021 Southland Baseball Players of the Week
March 15 – Gaige Howard, New Orleans; Chris Turpin, New Orleans
March 9 – Colton Eager, Abilene Christian; Will Kinzeler, Southeastern Louisiana
March 2 – Clayton Rasbeary, McNeese; Will Dion, McNeese
Feb. 23 – Luke Marbach, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi; Collin Kulivan, New Orleans
{Courtesy: Press Release from UNO Athletics}
