Erla Adds To Honors List Collecting Big Ten Pitcher of the Week Accolades
3/10/2020 12:57:00 PM | Baseball
MSU pitcher garners second award in as many days for his 12-strikeout, shutout 7.0 IP performance.
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State redshirt-junior pitcher Mason Erla was named the Big Ten Conference Pitcher of the Week, announced by the conference office on Tuesday, March 10. Erla collects his second award in as many days after being named one of Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's National Players of the Week on Monday, acknowledging his performance over the weekend.
Nebraska's Joe Acker was named the Player of the Week Award recipient, while Michigan's Steven Hajjar was the Freshman of the Week.
Erla's Big Ten Pitcher of the Week award is his first Pitcher of the Week Award, but his second Big Ten honor, as he was named Freshman of the Week on March 12, 2018. The honor is MSU's first Pitcher of the Week Award since Alex Troop on May 22, 2017.
The Pitcher of the Week accolade for Erla is Michigan State's third conference weekly honor this season, as Bryce Kelley and Peter Ahn were named the Big Ten Player of the Week Award recipients for Feb. 17 and for March 2, respectively.
This is the first time since 2016 that Michigan State has earned three Big Ten weekly awards, when Zack McGuire was named Player of the Week (5/2/16), Marty Bechina was Freshman of the Week (2/22/16) and Pitcher of the Week for Dakota Mekkes (2/28/16).
Erla, a native of Cass City, Mich., fired a career-high 12 strikeouts, and had a no-hitter going for 5.2 IP, not allowing a hit until the sixth inning to lead Michigan State to a 1-0 win over Troy Friday night in a pitchers' duel.
The Spartan hurler ended with 12 strikeouts over 7.0 IP, allowing just two hits, going 5.2 IP of no-hit baseball, before a single in the sixth and a bloop wind-aided, wind-blown double in the seventh, and only allowed one walk, as well as chalking up one pick off.
Erla didn't allow a Troy base-runner to touch second base until the seventh inning, as he rang up a three-up, three-down inning in the first, second, fourth and fifth frames, and didn't face more than four Troy batters in any inning. The Trojans came into Friday's game hitting .320 as a team and Erla stymied their bats.
The 12 strikeouts by Erla was a new career-high, marking the third time this season that he has set or tied a new career-best in four appearances. He tallied 11 Ks in the season-opener vs. Morehead State on Feb. 14 and matched that with 11 punchouts on Feb. 21 vs. Merrimack.
The Spartan hurler's 12 Ks are the most since former teammate Riley McCauley tallied 12 punchouts on Feb. 16, 2018 at Fresno State, allowing two hits and a run in 6.0 IP. Erla now has 42 strikeouts on the season and 163 for his career, needing just 17 more to crack into the MSU top 10 list for career strikeouts.
Erla and the Spartans will take on Indiana State in a three-game series in Terre Haute, Ind., Friday-Sunday, March 13-15. Friday's series opener is slated for a 3 p.m. start time, while Saturday's middle game has a 2 p.m. first pitch and Sunday's finale is 1 p.m.
Fans can follow the action with available links at MSUSpartans.com.
Nebraska's Joe Acker was named the Player of the Week Award recipient, while Michigan's Steven Hajjar was the Freshman of the Week.
Erla's Big Ten Pitcher of the Week award is his first Pitcher of the Week Award, but his second Big Ten honor, as he was named Freshman of the Week on March 12, 2018. The honor is MSU's first Pitcher of the Week Award since Alex Troop on May 22, 2017.
The Pitcher of the Week accolade for Erla is Michigan State's third conference weekly honor this season, as Bryce Kelley and Peter Ahn were named the Big Ten Player of the Week Award recipients for Feb. 17 and for March 2, respectively.
This is the first time since 2016 that Michigan State has earned three Big Ten weekly awards, when Zack McGuire was named Player of the Week (5/2/16), Marty Bechina was Freshman of the Week (2/22/16) and Pitcher of the Week for Dakota Mekkes (2/28/16).
Erla, a native of Cass City, Mich., fired a career-high 12 strikeouts, and had a no-hitter going for 5.2 IP, not allowing a hit until the sixth inning to lead Michigan State to a 1-0 win over Troy Friday night in a pitchers' duel.
The Spartan hurler ended with 12 strikeouts over 7.0 IP, allowing just two hits, going 5.2 IP of no-hit baseball, before a single in the sixth and a bloop wind-aided, wind-blown double in the seventh, and only allowed one walk, as well as chalking up one pick off.
Erla didn't allow a Troy base-runner to touch second base until the seventh inning, as he rang up a three-up, three-down inning in the first, second, fourth and fifth frames, and didn't face more than four Troy batters in any inning. The Trojans came into Friday's game hitting .320 as a team and Erla stymied their bats.
The 12 strikeouts by Erla was a new career-high, marking the third time this season that he has set or tied a new career-best in four appearances. He tallied 11 Ks in the season-opener vs. Morehead State on Feb. 14 and matched that with 11 punchouts on Feb. 21 vs. Merrimack.
The Spartan hurler's 12 Ks are the most since former teammate Riley McCauley tallied 12 punchouts on Feb. 16, 2018 at Fresno State, allowing two hits and a run in 6.0 IP. Erla now has 42 strikeouts on the season and 163 for his career, needing just 17 more to crack into the MSU top 10 list for career strikeouts.
Erla and the Spartans will take on Indiana State in a three-game series in Terre Haute, Ind., Friday-Sunday, March 13-15. Friday's series opener is slated for a 3 p.m. start time, while Saturday's middle game has a 2 p.m. first pitch and Sunday's finale is 1 p.m.
Fans can follow the action with available links at MSUSpartans.com.
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