BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Tennessee right-handed pitcher Blade Tidwell was named the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week, as announced by the league office on Monday.
The Loretto, Tennessee, native was dominant in his SEC debut, leading the 10th-ranked Vols to a 4-1 victory in Sunday’s rubber game at Georgia. Tidwell picked up his third straight win to improve to 3-1 on the year after throwing a career-high 7.1 innings against the Bulldogs, allowing just one run on four hits while striking out six batters.
Tidwell is the first Tennessee player to earn SEC Freshman of the Week honors since Zach Osborne on May 18, 2009 and is just the second pitcher in program history to win the weekly award, joining Josh Lindblom (Feb. 20, 2006).
Sunday’s victory gave UT its first series win to open SEC play since winning two of three games at Missouri in 2014.
Following his outstanding performance on Sunday, Tidwell is tied for the team lead with three wins and boasts the lowest ERA (1.65) of any of Tennessee’s starting pitchers. The freshman right hander also leads the team with 27.1 innings pitched and ranks third with 27 strikeouts.
The Vols are back in action on Tuesday night when they host Eastern Kentucky at 6:30 p.m. before taking on No. 22 LSU at home this weekend.
-UT Athletics
