Thornburg earns league pitcher of week honors

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Tyler Thornburg shut down No. 6-ranked University of Florida on March 14, and the pitcher/right fielder for the Charleston Southern baseball team was awarded for his efforts as the Big South Conference today named him The Crons Brand Pitcher of the Week.

Thornburg (3-1) threw a complete-game gem to lead the Buccaneers to a 6-3 victory over the highly-ranked Gators.

He held Florida to season lows in both runs (3) and hits (7), while striking out a career-high 11 batters. Of the season-low seven hits, only three were of the extra-base variety. He only walked three and posted a .212 opponent batting average.

Thornburg struck out the last two batters in the bottom of the ninth to give CSU the victory. The complete game was the second of his career, as he also went the distance against Presbyterian College March 22, 2008.

He leads the Big South in strikeouts (30) and wins this season, and his 25.2 innings pitched are second in the league.

The Buccaneers return to action with two midweek games. CSU travels to Spartanburg, S.C., for a 4 p.m. meeting March 16 with USC-Upstate. Charleston Southern returns home for a 2 p.m. March 17 meeting with Savannah State.