ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – The American Athletic Conference announced UCF senior Robby Howell as its Pitcher of the Week Monday. Howell pitched all nine innings and led the Knights to a 4-0 shutout of Jacksonville at the UCF Baseball Complex last week.
"I'm really proud of Robby's performance this week," UCF head coach Greg Lovelady said. "He did what our Friday night guy is supposed to do, save the bullpen and set the tone for the weekend. I'm really happy that the league recognized him for his great effort."
The complete-game shutout was the first of Howell's collegiate career. He was perfect through the first six innings, retiring all 18 hitters he faced. Howell got the first out of the seventh before giving up a base hit through the right side of the infield.
"In the bullpen [pregame] I didn't have my best stuff," Howell said. "I kind of just cleared it when I left the pen and told myself I was going to come out here and compete with my team. I was going against another good arm and I've really been looking forward to going out and fighting against someone like that."
Howell gave up just three hits and zero walks, throwing only 95 pitches, 65 of which were strikes. He also matched his own single-game career-best seven strikeouts. The win improved Howell's record to 4-0 on the season. He now has 2.01 ERA through 31.1 innings with 29 strikeouts to just seven walks.
Next up, the Knights head to Daytona for a midweek meeting with Bethune-Cookman on Mar. 21. Tuesday's first pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.
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