March 28, 2011
NORMAL, Ill. -
Illinois State right-handed pitcher Corey Maines was named Missouri Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week Monday, after improving to 4-0 with a win against Oakland on Friday, March 25. The award is the second of Maines' career, after initially winning pitcher of the week honors March 17, 2008.
"Corey has been our workhorse in the number one starting spot all year," head coach Mark Kingston said. "Corey does everything we can possibly ask of him, and he once again helped us get the win on Friday against Oakland."
Maines recorded a career-high 11 strikeouts without issuing a walk over seven shutout innings in the 6-2 win over the Grizzlies at Duffy Bass Field in Normal, Ill. The Houston, Texas, native retired the final 16 batters he faced, striking out nine of them during that span. Maines gave up just two hits en route to his team-best fourth victory of the season, and his ERA dropped to 2.17, which is a team-low among Redbird starters. Maines also leads ISU in innings pitched (37.1) and strikeouts (41), and opposing batters are hitting just .189 against him this season.
The senior right-hander moved up to seventh on the career strikeout list with 203 and Maines is second on the all-time strikeout-looking count with 90 (three behind leader Ryan Copeland). This is the second weekly Valley award bestowed upon a Redbird this season, after Tyler McNeely was named MVC Player of the Week March 21.
The Redbirds (15-6) will travel to Champaign, Ill., Wednesday, for a mid-week game at Illinois (7-10).
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