This morning it was announced that Mississippi State's Parker Stinnett was named SEC Co-Pitcher of the week, alongside South Carolina's Matthew Becker.

When it was announced Parker was the starter for Tuesday's matchup with Texas Tech, it came as a surprise to many. Despite the questions, Stinnett took advantage of the opportunity with a career-best performance, pitching 5 innings of shutout ball, allowing just 1 hit, and striking out a career-high 12 batters.

Stinnett followed up that performance with a strong six innings in yesterday's win over Princeton, allowing just 1 run and 4 hits and matching that career-high 12 strikeouts for a 2nd time this week. The senior from Oxford by way of N.W. Mississippi C.C. had gotten off to a rough start to the season, entering Tuesday's game with an 8.10 ERA, but has since lowered that down to 3.57.

Stinnett's performance has earned him a start in the weekend rotation going forward, according to Bulldog Skipper Chris Lemonis. "He's a guy for next weekend. You've got a weekend starter. I probably misused him for a year and a half. He's probably more of a starter than he was a bullpen guy. He does the same thing in our scrimmages that he did today, striking out a lot of guys"

Throwing the breaking ball for a strike has been an essential factor in Stinnett's improvement. "Usually when I would get hit or struggle was because I wasn't throwing a breaking ball for a strike," said Stinnett. "Having another pitch I was throwing in the zone keeps the batters off balance."