Bowen, Buratt sweep SSAC baseball weekly awards

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Southern States Athletic Conference announced its weekly baseball awards on Monday, and the Loyola Wolf Pack swept the Pitcher and Player of the Week honors. Brady Bowen pitched a gem in a Game 1 win over UT Southern last Friday, and Jaxon Buratt wreaked havoc on the SUNO's and Firehawks' pitching staff all week. 
 

Monday's announcement marks Bowen's third career SSAC Pitcher of the Week award, while it's the first for Buratt. The Loyola pitching staff has also notched the last two Pitcher of the Week titles, as Jake Cohen was named the league's best pitcher last week. Michael Hotard has also won that award this season. Buratt joins Jordan McKenzie as the two Player of the Week recipients from the program this season, too. 
 

Burattt started the week by going 1-for-2 with three RBI, two walks, and a run scored against the Knights of Southern University at New Orleans on Tuesday. He scored when Jed Cambre homered early in the game, and recorded a sacrifice fly for one RBI and a two-RBI single in the seventh inning to make the score 13-3 and end the game due to the run-rule. 
 

The junior started the series against UT Southern with another 1-for-2 performance, scoring twice with two more walks and an RBI. He homered in the game, too, which was a solo home run in the second inning. He was also 1-for-2 with a run and an RBI in Game 2 of the series, then he ended the weekend with a 3-for-4 outing, adding three more runs and three more RBI to his weekly total. 
 

Buratt is hitting .356 on 64 at-bats this season with 22 RBI, 18 runs scored, and five extra base hits (two doubles, two triples, and a home run). He currently has a .483 on-base percentage and he's slugging .484. 
 

Bowen got the start in the opening game of the series on Friday, and he retired the first eight batters he faced before giving up a solo home run in the third inning. Bowen followed that up by sitting down the next 11 batters in order, as he hit a batter in the bottom of the seventh for UT Southern's second player to reach base. He ended up getting a double play to end the game, meaning he faced just one batter over the minimum throughout his outing.
 

The Houma, Louisiana, native is 3-1 so far this season with a 2.59 ERA. He's struck out 22 and allowed just nine earned runs in 31.1 innings.
 

Bowen, Buratt, and the Wolf Pack will be at Segnette Field for four games this week, first squaring off against Spring Hill College at 5 p.m. on Tuesday in non-conference action. Then, the Mobile Rams come to town this weekend for a three-game SSAC series starting at 6 p.m. on Friday.