Ethan Small named Double-A South Pitcher of the Week

BILOXI, Miss. (Biloxi Shuckers) - Biloxi Shuckers’ lefty Ethan Small has been named the Double-A South Pitcher of the Week as announced by Minor League Baseball on Monday. It is the first player of the week honor of Small’s career.

Over two starts, Small tossed 10.2 scoreless innings, allowing just three hits while striking out 19 batters. His 19 strikeouts led all pitchers in Minor League Baseball and his 10.2 innings was in the top 15 of innings pitched.

In his first start of the week on June 1, Small went on a tear against the Biscuits, striking out seven consecutive batters from the end of the first inning through the end of the third. The former Mississippi State ace set a new career high with 11 strikeouts over five innings, coming one strikeout shy of tying the Shuckers franchise record for strikeouts in a game. He gave up just one hit against Montgomery and left the game in line for the victory.

Small took the hill again on Sunday for the Shuckers and picked up where he had left off, striking out five in his first four innings of work while giving up just two hits. He issued two walks during his start but immediately followed them up with a double play, cancelling out the runners. Small set a career high with 5.2 innings pitched on Sunday and would have likely completed six innings, but a rain delay with two outs in the bottom of the sixth ended his day. The southpaw was at 75 pitches at the time of the delay and had just struck out his eighth batter. As was the case on Tuesday, Small departed with a 3-0 lead and was in line for the victory.

This is the 16th League Pitcher of the Week honor in Shuckers’ history and the first since Trey Supak won Southern League Pitcher of the Week for the week of July 15-21. Small is scheduled to start for the Shuckers on Saturday night against the Mississippi Braves.

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