by Matt Cooke
Two University of West Georgia athletes have been recognized by the Gulf South Conference this week.
For the second-straight week, a UWG pitcher has earned recognition from the Gulf South Conference as the GSC Pitcher of the Week. Last week, it was All-American Jamie Sexton and this week, Cole Janousek's efforts against Lee this past weekend earned him the honor.
Facing one of the top pitching staffs in the nation, the junior from Tifton was stellar in Game 2 on Saturday, tossing a complete game shutout, going seven innings, allowing six hits and striking out three. He only allowed one runner to reach third base throughout the afternoon, with that happening in the fifth inning on a wild pitch.
The award is the first for Cole at UWG and the fifth for a West Georgia pitcher in the past two seasons. The other four were from junior All-American Jamie Sexton.
Cole now has a 3.12 ERA on the season in 17.1 innings of work. He has allowed 15 hits and six earned runs, striking out eight in the process. Opponents are batting a lowly .234 against him in his six appearances, two of which have been starts. He has been stellar since his second appearance of the season, going 1-1 in five appearances with a 1.06 ERA. He allowed four earned runs in his first outing at Montevallo and has given up just two runs in 17 innings since.
The Wolves will take on Stillman on Wednesday afternoon at 4 p.m., then will host Florida Tech on Friday and Saturday. Friday at 6 p.m. will be the first Blue Diamond Day for UWG baseball and will also be the return of the Georgia Lottery Dollars for Scholars program, where one lucky student will win a $1,000 scholarship.
For the third time this season, a UWG softball player has had her efforts recognized by the Gulf South Conference, as Heather Crow was announced as the GSC Player of the Week on Tuesday after a stellar week at the plate against Georgia Southwestern and Lee.
The senior was 10-for-15 from the plate last week for a .667 batting average over five games. She had three home runs and nine RBI, including seven RBI against Georgia Southwestern. Her best individual game was in the first game against the Hurricanes, as she went 3-for-4 with five RBI, a double and a home run to lead the Wolves to victory.
Possibly her top statistic was her slugging percentage for the week, as it sits at 1.333 for the five-game week.
The award is the first for Heather since coming to UWG and the third in the past four weeks for West Georgia. The Wolves went nearly six years without a player of the week before Nicole Yancey won the award four weeks ago. Nicole won GSC Player of the Week again last week before Heather was named this week.
Heather is hitting .467 in her past 10 games, going 14-for-30 in that span. She has two doubles, three home runs and 12 RBI in those 10 games. Overall, she is now hitting .394 for the season with five home runs and 24 RBI. She has four doubles and a slugging percentage of .682 on the year.
West Georgia heads south on Wednesday to take on Georgia Southwestern before returning home on Sunday to face-off with USC-Aiken.
