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NCAA.com | April 16, 2018

Pitching prowess leads Harvard, Samford to Player and Team of the Week Honors

Samford held the No. 2 offense in the country (Mercer) to just one run in three games.

For the first time since 2001, the Harvard Crimson threw a no-hitter, while the Samford Bulldogs held the nation’s second-best scoring lineup to one run in three games.

Let’s take a deeper look at this week’s Team and Player of the Week:

Team of the Week

Samford’s pitching stood up to the challenge of Mercer’s second-ranked offensive attack, limiting the Bears to just one run in three games over the weekend. In midweek action, Samford also handled No. 21 Auburn 12-3 to compile a 4-0 record for the week. The Bulldogs now own the nation’s third-longest winning streak at 12 games.

Quick Samford facts:

  • Pitched five shutouts this season
  • Allowed only six combined runs in the past six games
  • Won nine straight SoCon games

Honorable Mention

  • Tennessee Tech owns the nation’s largest winning streak at 20 games after a 4-0 record last week with a win vs. Middle Tennessee, and a three-game sweep of Murray State. The Golden Eagles are now 29-5 this year.

Player of the Week

Harvard’s Noah Zavolas dealt his way to a no-hitter Friday, snapping Yale’s eight-game win streak. The Crimson hadn’t seen a no-no performance since 2001, and just barely missed a perfect game against the Ivy rival Bulldogs. Zavolas tossed 7.2 innings before allowing his first baserunner to reach on an error in the eighth. The only other to reach the base paths came on a ninth inning walk. The right-hander finished the game on a fitting note, striking out his 12th batter of the night for the complete game victory.

Quick Zavolas facts:

  • Owns a 9.56 strikeout per nine innings ratio
  • Leads Harvard’s staff with 48 innings pitched
  • Has the lowest ERA in his career this season at 3.38

Honorable Mentions

  • Miami Ohio’s Ross Haffey put on a show against Ball State, blasting six home runs and 14 RBIs to hit .550 for the week.
  • Parker Phillips of Austin Peay finished the week with five homers with 15 RBIs. All five home runs came in a double-header Friday, matching Haffey’s performance on the same day.
  • Freshman Ryan Ward of Bryant went 15-28 with three home runs, five doubles, 10 RBIs, nine runs in five games. He struck out only once.