Bakker Makes it Four Straight SoCon Men’s Baseball Pitchers of the Week for Elon

SPARTANBURG, S.C. — After tossing a complete game, two-hit shutout against Georgia Southern on Friday night, Elon righty Lucas Bakker was named the Southern Conference Pitcher of the Week for games between March 10-16. This is Bakker’s second straight SoCon Pitcher of the Week accolade and the fourth consecutive for a Phoenix hurler.

Bakker became the first Elon pitcher to throw back-to-back complete games since the Phoenix joined the SoCon for the 2004 campaign. The junior from Deception Bay, Queensland, Australia, carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning and had faced the minimum through 6.2 frames against Georgia Southern, which entered the game tied for the NCAA Division I lead in batting average, on Friday night. Against the Eagles, he walked three and struck out seven, including five of the last seven hitters of the game. Bakker threw just 100 pitches in the complete game and faced just three hitters more than the minimum.

With the honor, Elon becomes just the second team, and the first since The Citadel in 1992, to win four straight SoCon Pitcher of the Week awards outright.

On the year, Bakker is 3-1 with a team-best 1.27 ERA. In five starts he has thrown 35.1 innings, struck out 31 and issued just eight walks. Opponents are hitting just .189 off of Bakker so far in 2014. He has not allowed an earned run in 18.1 innings. His two complete games are the most by an Elon pitcher since 2010 and the Phoenix staff has matched its total of three complete games from a year ago.

Elon’s 2014 SoCon Baseball Players/Pitchers of the Week
• Feb. 24 – Jake Stalzer – Pitcher of the Week
• March 3 – Jake Stalzer – Pitcher of the Week
• March 10 – Lucas Bakker – Pitcher of the Week
• March 17 – Lucas Bakker – Pitcher of the Week