Hodges receives CVAC baseball honor

By MOC Sports Information
Published in Sports on March 21, 2007 2:41 PM

• Print
• Email

MOUNT OLIVE -- Casey Hodges, who recorded 11 strikeouts in six scoreless innings in nationally 20th-ranked Mount Olive's 3-0 win over Bryant, has been named Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference Baseball Pitcher of the Week.

The award is the fourth this season for the Trojans' pitching staff as Hodges joins last week's winner Judson Smith and two-time honoree Tom Layne.

Hodges, a junior from Rocky Mount, Va., took a perfect game into the fifth inning, retiring the first 12 batters he faced before giving up a leadoff single, the only baserunner he allowed. He struck out five of the first six batters he faced and retired the side in order in the third inning on five pitches - two one-pitch outs and a three-pitch strikeout. He followed that with an eight-pitch fourth inning.

The shutout victory, Mount Olive's third shutout of the season, jump-started a perfect 6-0 week as the Trojans extended their winning streak to seven. Trojan pitchers allowed one run or less in five of last week's six games.

Mount Olive (25-8 overall, 10-2 CVAC) remains atop the CVAC standings after winning its fourth consecutive conference series.

Mount Olive is on the road this week as the Trojans travel to Murfreesboro on Wednesday to face Chowan in a non-conference doubleheader. Mount Olive resumes conference play this weekend with a three-game series at Barton. The two teams play a doubleheader Saturday at noon and conclude the series with a single game Sunday at 1 p.m. at Wilson.