Alabama’s Montana Fouts Named SEC Pitcher of the Week
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – After earning a pair of complete-game road wins at eighth-ranked Arkansas last weekend, Alabama’s Montana Fouts has been named the SEC Softball Pitcher of the Week, the league announced Tuesday.
Fouts shut down a potent Razorback offense last weekend in Fayetteville, allowing just three runs, all unearned, across 14.0 innings with 23 strikeouts, posting double-digit Ks in each game. Prior to last weekend, Arkansas had hit at least one home run in 31 of its 35 games. They didn’t hit any home runs off Fouts and only two of their eight hits went for extra bases. In Sunday’s series rubber match, the Grayson, Ky., native threw a three-hit shutout, marking just the second time this season the Razorbacks have been shut out. It was the first home series loss for Arkansas since 2017 and the first series win in Fayetteville for Alabama since 2015.
It is Fouts’ second pitcher of the week award this season and the third of her career. She also earned four freshman of the week awards during her 2019 rookie campaign. In total, Alabama has taken home seven weekly conference accolades this season, including two pitcher of the week, three player of the week and two newcomer of the week awards. The seven awards are tied for the second-highest total in program history, previously hitting the mark in 2019, and are two shy of the record nine attained in 2006.
Here is the full release from the SEC, including the other accolades from around the conference:
SEC Player of the Week - LSU's Aliyah Andrews, a senior centerfielder from Oldsmar, Fla., batted .625 (10-for-16) in the victory over Louisiana Tech and the series win at No. 19 Missouri. In game three against the Tigers, Andrews matched her career high with four hits, including an RBI single in the fifth inning to extend LSU's lead to 7-5. For the week, she recorded five runs scored, five stolen bases and four RBI.
SEC Pitcher of the Week - Alabama's Montana Fouts, a junior right-hander from Grayson, Ky., earned a pair of complete-game victories at No. 10/8 Arkansas. Fouts struck out 23 batters and held the Razorbacks to three unearned runs and a .157 batting average. She posted double-digit strikeouts in both starts and registered her fifth shutout of the season in game three to decide the series win.
SEC Co-Newcomers of the Week - Georgia's Sara Mosley, a sophomore designated player from Ellijay, Ga., was instrumental in the series win at No. 10/11 Kentucky. In game two, Mosley hit the game-winning three-run home run in the top of the seventh inning to take a 9-8 lead. In game three, she registered a two-RBI single in the first and then a two-run homer run in the third to give the Bulldogs a 5-0 lead.
LSU's Ciara Briggs, a freshman outfielder from Yorba Linda, Calif., batted .417 (5-for-12) with six runs scored, two RBI and a stolen base over the mid-week win over Louisiana Tech and the series win at No. 19 Missouri. In game three against the Tigers, Briggs went 3-for-4 with three RBI and three runs scored. In the fifth inning, she recorded a two RBI single and later crossed home plate to put LSU ahead 7-5.
SEC Freshman of the Week - Ole Miss' Blaise Biringer, a freshman second baseman from Nogales, Ariz., batted .545 with six hits, three runs scored and three RBI in a mid-week win over Central Arkansas and the series win over South Carolina. In the non-conference matchup with the Bears, Biringer hit the first inside-the-park home run for the Rebels since Kylan Becker during the 2017 NCAA Oxford Regional. She went 4-for-8 against the Gamecocks to help her team secure its eighth consecutive SEC series win at home dating back to 2018.
