Baseball's Chapman Named SEC Pitcher of the Week
Monday, May 24, 2010 | Baseball
Junior Kevin Chapman (Coral Springs, Fla.) was named the SEC Pitcher of the Week for the first time in his career on Monday after helping the fourth-ranked Gators clinch the Southeastern Conference title at No. 6 South Carolina over the weekend.The left-hander became the first hurler from Florida to receive the league's weekly honor since Patrick Keating was recognized on Feb. 23, 2009.
Chapman collected saves during the first two games versus the Gamecocks as Florida clinched its first SEC title since 2005. In addition, the Orange and Blue won a series at Columbia for the first time since 1996 and just the second time in school history. Over the first two games, the southpaw worked a total of 3.2 scoreless and hitless innings and registered three strikeouts.
The left-hander preserved UF's 3-2 victory on Thursday with two scoreless frames and recorded the final five outs on Friday in front of a Carolina Stadium record crowd of 8,242 fans to help the Gators capture their 11th SEC title and 20th Eastern Division crown with a 5-2 triumph.
Chapman has not surrendered an earned run over the last 11.0 innings covering seven appearances, with 12 strikeouts and just one walk. His 10 saves on the season are tied for sixth-most in school history, three shy of the mark shared by Josh Fogg (1998) and Danny Wheeler (1994).
On the season, Chapman is 3-0 with a 1.14 earned run average and has totaled 40 K in 39.1 innings, while limiting opponents to a .169 batting average. In SEC play, he was 3-0 with seven saves and compiled a 1.59 ERA. The top seed at the SEC Tournament, Florida (40-13) will meet eighth-seeded LSU (36-20) at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Regions Park. The game will be televised live on CSS and streaming video will be available on ESPN3.com.
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