BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Jacksonville State senior Faith Sims has been named the Ohio Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week for her performance in guiding the Gamecocks to a perfect weekend in conference play.
 
The Gamecocks (23-8, 7-1 OVC) swept SIUE on Friday and Eastern Illinois on Sunday to remain atop the league standings, and Sims was a big part of that successful week to earn her second OVC Pitcher of the Week honor this season.
 
She earned the victory in the circle in the first three wins and recorded the save in the fourth. Over the week, the Cordova, Ala., native went 3-0 with a save and a 0.00 earned run average. She struck out 15 batters in her 20 scoreless innings.
 
Sims threw complete-game shutouts to start each doubleheader and then finished both in the circle. After throwing a two-hitter of the Cougars in the first game, she came on in relief in the second game and pitched the final four innings before earning the win on Lex Hull's walk off homer in the 10th inning.
 
On Sunday, Sims tossed a three-hitter against the Panters in game one before tossing the final two innings of the nightcap to grab her second save of the season. The weekend extended her streak of consecutive innings without allowing an earned run to 21 and 1/3.
 
She has been exceptional so far in OVC play this season. She has appeared in all seven of JSU's league wins, going 6-0 with a 0.40 ERA and a .118 opponents batting average.
 
She and the Gamecocks will be in Huntsville, Ala., on Wednesday, when they will take on Mississippi State at Charger Park, the home of UAH Softball. The game will start at 5:30 p.m. CT. JSU will then return home to host Austin Peay in a key OVC doubleheader on Friday at 1 p.m. CT.