Baseball's Keating Named SEC Pitcher of the Week
Monday, February 23, 2009 | Baseball
University of Florida senior right-hander Patrick Keating (Harrisburg, Ill.) was chosen as the Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the Week on Monday after capturing the Gators' season opener with a seven-inning stint and a career-high seven strikeouts in a 6-3 win over No. 8 Louisville on Friday night. It was the second time Keating has earned the league's weekly honor, as he was recognized on March 31 of last season following his first-ever complete game to clinch UF's series victory over LSU.
In his '09 debut, the righty allowed four hits and three runs (two earned) without issuing any walks to the Cardinals, a unanimous selection as the Big East Conference favorite. The 2008 first-team All-SEC and All-South Region selection struck out Louisville All-American Chris Dominguez, the Big East's Preseason Player of the Year, twice and limited the slugger to an 0-for 3 performance. In addition, Keating was on a 75-pitch count and threw 72 pitches in seven full innings. He also improved to 6-0 as a starter at McKethan Stadium and has a 1.98 earned run average in those starts.
The Gators received other good news with the release of the Collegiate Baseball poll, as head coach Kevin O'Sullivan's squad vaulted a nation-best 13 spots from 25th to 12th after taking all three games from Louisville. The polls from Baseball America, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and USA Today/ESPN will be released later this afternoon.
UF returns to action on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. by welcoming Eastern Michigan (2-2) to McKethan Stadium for the opener of a two-game set. The Gators host No. 14 Miami (Fla.) (3-1) in a weekend series starting on Friday.
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