It was a good week to be a pitcher in the Ohio Valley Conference this past week; it’s just a shame the conference could only name one as OVC Pitcher of the Week.

Jacksonville State’s Faith Sims ended up getting the nod as OVC Pitcher of the Week after she picked up three wins and earned a save, including one win against Eastern.

In conference play this season she has a 0.40 ERA. Sims was good, but she had a lot of competition for the award, including a perfect game. Sims is second in the conference with 13 complete games this season.

Murray State freshman Hannah James threw a perfect game against Belmont on Sunday, going seven innings, striking out five batters in the process. Despite throwing the third perfect game in Racer history, James still was beat out by Sims for the award.

Reigning OVC Pitcher of the Year Morgan Rackel was not going to sit idly by and watch other OVC pitchers snag up awards and headlines, as she was named OVC Player of the Week for her performance on the mound and at the plate.

Rackel recorded two wins on the mound for the Governors in series sweeps against Belmont and Tennessee State, striking out 15 total batters.

She leads the conference with 138 strikeouts and complete games with 16. Rackel made her pitching peers pay, as she reached base in half of her at-bats and drilled three home runs over the weekend.

Jacksonville State swept Southern Illinois Edwardsville and Eastern in four games of OVC play, holding its spot at the top of the conference with a 7-1 record.

Three teams trail Jacksonville State in the conference standings with 5-1 records. Austin Peay, Murray State and Eastern Kentucky will all be vying to make up ground on the Gamecocks.

Austin Peay will have the best chance of doing that as they will face Jacksonville State head-to-head on Friday in a two-game set. That likely means a Rackel-Sims pitching matchup will be seen on Friday, as team and player hierarchy in the OVC will be on the line.

Austin Peay and Jacksonville State are also No.1 and No. 2 in the OVC with 48 and 46 home runs respectively.

Eastern is tied for second to last in the OVC with a 1-7 record. The Panthers will play Tennessee-Martin (5-3) in a doubleheader on Saturday. Eastern is 12th in the OVC with a .240 batting average and 12th with a 4.67 team ERA.

JJ Bullock can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]