College players of the week honored by TSWA - April 1

April 2, 2025 Forrest Freeman

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Austin Peay senior outfielder Cameron Nickens had an impressive week as the Govs’ slugger collected nine RBI on the week, earning this week’s Tennessee Sports Writers Association College Baseball Player of the Week honor.

Nickens opened his week with a home run and two RBI against in-state foe Tennessee Tech, then went a combined 8-for-12 in the Atlantic Sun series against Bellarmine, including seven RBI, three runs scored, two doubles and a home run.

The Magnolia, Texas, native was named the A-Sun Player of the Week as he batted .529 over the four games with five extra-base hits. He improved to a .407 batting average on the season with 39 total RBI and 10 round-trippers.

On the bump, Carson-Newman freshman hurler Kolton Casson was named the Pitcher of the Week as he went seven innings against UVA-Wise, striking out 13 as he yielded just one run on eight hits for his fourth complete game of the season.

The Benton, Tenn., native recorded the most strikeouts by an Eagle pitcher since Dillon Cate whiffed 15 against Northwood back in 2018. He was also named the WePlayed Sports South Atlantic Conference Pitcher of the Week.

This season, Casson has a 9-0 record in nine appearances with a 2.11 earned run average, walking 10 and striking out 59.

SOFTBALL: King University senior third baseman/catcher Alyssa Suits earned the Softball Player of the Week honor as she guided the Tornado to a 3-1 mark on the week, hitting .733 with 11 hits in 15 at-bats. Among those, she collected two home runs, two doubles and a triple as she drove in seven runs and came home to score seven more.

The Jonesborough, Tenn., native earned the Conference Carolinas Player of the Week honor. Among her week’s highlights included a 3-for-5 game against Emmanuel with a double and a home run with two RBI and three runs scored and a 3-for-3 game against Converse with three RBI and two runs scored, collecting a double and a triple.

In the circle, Chattanooga pitcher Taylor Long claimed the Pitcher of the Week honor as she compiled a 0.00 ERA with a 2-0 record, striking out 19 among her two complete-game shutouts.

The Calhoun, Ga., product was named the Southern Conference Pitcher of the Week. Long started the week with a 1-0 victory over Tennessee Tech, taking a no-hitter against the Golden Eagles into the fifth frame as she struck out eight. Against Mercer, Long sat down 11 more in a 6-0 victory to improve to 8-0 on the season with 94 strikeouts and a 2.52 ERA.

TSWA names college players of the week - March 25

March 26, 2025 Forrest Freeman

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee redshirt senior outfielder Hunter Ensley put on a show this past week as he helped the Vols claim a series win over No. 10 Alabama and earn this week’s Tennessee Sports Writers Association College Baseball Player of the Week.

Across four games, Ensley hit .520 (11-for-20) with nine RBI and four runs scored. The Huntingdon native had multiple hits in all four games on the week and had six RBI in the series against the nationally-ranked Crimson Tide.

He had four hits – including two doubles – and three RBI in the midweek contest against East Tennessee State, then went 3-for-4 with two runs score, two RBI and a career-high three stolen bases in the 10-7 win over Alabama. He finished out the series Saturday with another multi-hit game that included a double and three runs driven in to claim the series win.

On the bump, Sewanee sophomore righty Taj Donald earned the Pitcher of the Week honor. During the Tigers’ seven-inning 18-5 win over Rhodes, the Chester Springs, Pa., product went five scoreless frames – including going three-up, three down in the first two innings. He was a model of efficiency, facing just 18 batters in all and coaxing 10 groundouts with two strikeouts.

SOFTBALL: Tennessee Tech sophomore Abbee Klinefelter put together a great week on offense to take the Player of the Week award as she batted .545 on the week in four contests to lead the Golden Eagles to a series sweep over Western Illinois.

For the week, the Clearwater, Fla., Golden Eagle drove in seven runs along and came home to score four times with a .500 on-base percentage and a .636 slugging mark. She went 2-for-3 in two of the games against the Fighting Leathernecks, while also collecting six RBI in Tech’s first three-game conference sweep since 2022. Klinefelter also had two sacrifice flies and a sacrifice hit on the week.

In the circle, Belmont redshirt junior lefty Maya Johnson was the Pitcher of the Week as she went 2-0 on the week to improve to 13-1 on the season. She threw 19 total innings, while striking out 32 along the way.

In all, she allowed just seven hits without yielding a run to compile a 0.00 earned run average on the week. Johnson threw 12 strikeouts in two of her contests in an 8-0 win over Murray State and a 3-0 win at Illinois State.

College players of the week recognized - March 18

March 20, 2025 Forrest Freeman

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Trevecca senior second baseman Joey Parliment had a great week at the plate, earning this week’s Tennessee Sports Writers Association College Baseball Player of the Week honor on Tuesday.

Parliment, a Gordonsville native, batted .643 on the week with six runs scored, eight RBI and three home runs as the Trojans took two of three from Union, winning the final two games of the series. He went 2-for-5 with two RBI and a home run, then had a pair of three RBI games as he went 4-for-4 with four runs scored and a round-tripper in game two, then 3-for-5 in the finale with another home run.

His ninth hit of the series also included a walk-off single in the bottom of the 11th inning in the finale to clinch the series victory.

On the hill, Tennessee junior righty Marcus Phillips was the Pitcher of the Week as he picked up a complete-game shutout victory over Florida in his first career Southeastern Conference start.

The junior from Sioux Falls, S.D., yielded five hits but no one came home to score as he walked one and struck out seven. The seven innings worked bested his previous high of 5 2/3. The complete-game shutout was the first for the Vols since Drew Beam did that against Vanderbilt on April 3, 2022.

SOFTBALL: Union senior Morgan Jennings was the Player of the Week. Leading the team to a series win over Trevecca, Jennings batted .538 with seven hits, scoring three runs and driving in another with two walks and stealing one base.

In the circle, Trevecca senior pitcher Ashlan Sensing was the Pitcher of the Week, going the distance against Union as she threw seven scoreless innings, holding them to just two hits. The Dickson, Tenn., native struck out seven in the victory as she improved to 12-4 on the season.

TSWA honors college players of the week - March 11

March 12, 2025 Forrest Freeman

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Middle Tennessee redshirt sophomore righty Drew Horn picked up the fifth no-hitter in Blue Raider history as he earned the Tennessee Sports Writers Association’s Baseball Pitcher of the Week honor on Tuesday.

Horn, a Smyrna native, went the distance, allowing just two walks. It was the second nine-inning complete-game no-no in program history and the first since Chandler Alderman’s eight-inning clean slate last season.

In the contest against Oakland, he struck out a career-high 13 Golden Grizzly batters – including six looking over his 110 pitches. He struck out seven in the first four innings, two more over the fifth and sixth, then struck out the side in order in the seventh.

Tennessee freshman Levi Clark was named the Baseball Player of the Week as he batted .615 for the week, going 8-for-13 at the plate with a double and a home run while driving in six.

He posted back-to-back three-hit performances with midweek victories over Radford and Xavier – including three RBI against the Musketeers. Clark had an RBI single and a stolen base in the opener against St. Bonaventure, then drew three walks in the middle game before walking twice more and hitting a two-run home run in the finale.

SOFTBALL: Chattanooga claimed both softball honors as senior designated player Presley Williamson and junior pitcher Peja Goold took the weekly awards.

Williamson drove in 14 on six hits with a double and four home runs for the week, including a game-winning grand slam against Long Island in an eight-inning 8-7 victory. She had a home run in four of the five games this past week and a two-run double against Georgia State. Williamson drove in two with a bases-loaded single and a two-run round-tripper against Siena, had a first-inning blast against Niagara, then hit a solo homer in the second game against Siena.

Goold appeared in four games with two complete games in both starts. She threw a one-hitter against Siena, then picked up her first save of the season against LIU, striking out all three on swinging strikeouts. She struck out 16 in all over the weekend.

2024-25 TSWA PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
BASEBALL
2/18 | Player: Blake Pou (Sewanee); Pitcher: Ryan Higgins (Carson-Newman)
2/25 | Player: Eston Snider (Middle Tennessee); Pitcher: Liam Doyle (Tennessee)
3/4 | Player: Gavin Kilen (Tennessee); Pitcher: Jake Poindexter (Lipscomb)
3/11 | Player: Levi Clark (Tennessee); Pitcher: Drew Horn (Middle Tennessee)

SOFTBALL
2/11 | Player: Danielle Jason (Tusculum); Pitcher: Maya Johnson (Belmont)
2/18 | Player: Abbie Buckner (Sewanee); Pitcher: Reagen Huskey (Sewanee)
2/25 | Player: Brianna Asmondy (Trevecca): Pitcher: Maya Johnson (Belmont)
3/4 | Player: Hayden Dye (Carson-Newman); Pitcher: Peja Goold (Chattanooga)
3/11 | Player: Presley Williamson (Chattanooga); Pitcher: Peja Goold (Chattanooga)

College players of the week named by TSWA - March 4

March 4, 2025 Forrest Freeman

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Tech junior guard Jaylon Johnson was named the Tennessee Sports Writers Association’s Men’s Basketball Player of the Week after a strong week where the Houston, Texas, native led the team in scoring, averaging 26.5 points and 6.0 rebounds.

Johnson was a scoring machine for the Purple and Gold to close the regular season, while also averaging 4.0 assists and 2.5 steals per game. He scored a season-high 31 points and eight 3-pointers with seven rebounds, three dimes and four steals against Western Illinois. The eight 3-pointers on 14 tries tied for the second-most in program history.

He followed up on Saturday against Lindenwood as he never left the floor, scoring 22 points with five rebounds, five assists and hitting 8-for-9 at the line. He also extended his 3-point streak to 31 straight games.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: Middle Tennessee’s Ta’Mia Scott led the Blue Raiders to a 2-0 week, scoring 45 points with 11 rebounds, three blocks and two assists. She scored a team-high 20 points with seven rebounds, an assist and a block in a 63-41 win over New Mexico State. She shot 7-for-14 from the field.

Scott followed that up with 25 points, four rebounds, two blocks and an assist with a 57-35 win over UTP, shooting 47 percent from the field.

BASEBALL: Tennessee junior infielder Gavin Kilen was named the Baseball Player of the Week after an incredible week to keep the Volunteers undefeated and win the 2025 Astros Foundation College Classic. He batted .611 on the week with 11 hits and nine runs score, driving in eight. He had five home runs.

Seven of Kilen’s hits went for extra bases, starting the weekend with back-to-back two-homer games against No. 16 Oklahoma State and Rice before going 2-for-4 with an RBI against No. 24 Arizona. He finished a single short of the cycle as he went 4-for-5 with five runs and four RBI in a win over Rice.

Lipscomb righty Jake Poindexter was named the Pitcher of the Week as he had seven shutout innings, allowing six hits and two walks, striking out six as he picked up the victory over Villanova. The seven innings and six strikeouts were career highs.

He shut the door on the Wildcats in the final two frames, sending Villanova down 1-2-3 in the sixth and around a two-out single in the seventh. For the season, he has struck out 10 batters in 15 1/3 innings.

SOFTBALL: Carson-Newman senior infielder Hayden Dye was named the Softball Player of the Week as she batted .786 on the week, going 11-for-14 with nine RBI. She hit three home runs – one in three of the four games. All four of the games were multi-hit games as she collected 23 total bases.

Chattanooga junior pitcher Peja Goold was named the Pitcher of the Week as she helped lead the Mocs to a 4-0 week with wins over Jacksonville State, IU Indy, Stony Brook and Gardner-Webb. She struck out 39 batters for the week, including 14 against Stony Brook and 12 against Gardner-Webb.

BASEBALL
2/18 | Player: Blake Pou (Sewanee); Pitcher: Ryan Higgins (Carson-Newman)
2/25 | Player: Eston Snider (Middle Tennessee); Pitcher: Liam Doyle (Tennessee)
3/4 | Player: Gavin Kilen (Tennessee); Pitcher: Jake Poindexter (Lipscomb)