Tide's Kelsi Dunne SEC Pitcher Of Week

Alabama freshman pitcher Kelsi Dunne was named the Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the Week the league office announced on Monday after she had back-to-back complete-game shutouts of Arkansas and South Carolina.

Dunne, a native of Port Orange, Fla., allowed just three hits and struck out 20 in 13 innings of work for Alabama against the Razorbacks and Gamecocks. She held opponents to a .075 batting average and issued just two walks.

Dunne began the week with a two-hit complete-game win at Arkansas where she fanned 10 Hogs in a 4-0 Tide victory. She then posted a one-hit shutout against South Carolina on Saturday with 10 strikeouts and just one walk.

Dunne has not allowed a run over her last 14 innings in the circle and has won eight of her last nine appearances. She is 18-3 on the season with a 1.36 ERA and 192 strikeouts in 138.2 innings.

“Kelsi was in complete control of what she was trying to accomplish,” Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy said. “She was really mixing her pitches well and hitting her spots, and when she does that, she is tough to beat.”

Dunne garnered SEC Freshman of the Week honors after no-hitting Illinois at the Golden Panther Invitational in Miami on Feb. 22. The award is the Tide’s sixth SEC weekly honor this year.

Alabama plays two games on Wednesday, April 23, at the Alabama Softball Complex. The Tide play Birmingham Southern in the first game at 4:15 p.m. and then square off with Samford at 6:30 p.m.