After nine innings of one-run baseball last Friday, redshirt sophomore Nick Lewis was awarded Mountain West Conference pitcher of the week. With his first career complete game, Lewis secured the Cougs’ 5-1 win over Fresno State and built momentum for them to win the series 2-1.
After a shaky start to the year, giving up 13 runs in his first four starts, he has tightened up from the left side, conceding just four runs in his last four appearances. The southpaw’s complete game Friday evening was the longest outing of his career, and by far the most dominant.
One unearned run, 101 pitches, five hits, no walks and five strikeouts was the final damage report. With numbers like that, it was really no debate who would be taking home the weekly conference honor.
After Friday’s outing, Lewis officially holds the best ERA in the conference at 3.50. He additionally has the best record at 7-2, most innings pitched with 74 ⅔, is fourth for batting average against at .254 and third for WHIP at 1.28.
With stats that rank him at the top of the conference, Lewis has a solid bid for MWC pitcher of the year, an honor held by notable names such as Paul Skenes with Air Force.
One conference series sits on the horizon for WSU, and with the Cougs currently floating around second and third place in the conference, they have a golden opportunity to play playoff baseball this May. Their next series is against Air Force starting on May 8 in Colorado.
