April 16, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - West Florida pitcher Taren Walton (Sr / Pensacola, Fla.) wins the hurler's award for the weekly GSC honors for the third time this year, and the second in a row. The former Pine Forest star had two starts on the mound, and allowed only one run in 13 innings of work. She picked up a key win over West Division and regional foe Delta State, tossing five shutout innings in a 11-0 UWF win in five innings. Walton punched out 11 Lady Statesmen with strikeouts of the 15 outs recorded, and had sixteen total strikeouts on the week.

The right handed flame thrower is third in the Gulf South Conference in Earned Run Average, with a 1.35 ERA, to go with her 12-6 record. She is also third in the conference in strikeouts, with 119 k's in 119 innings. Her strikeouts per innings pitched ratio, is the second best in the GSC, and ranks in the top 20 nationally. The Argos pitching staff as unit, leads the entire GSC in total strikeouts, as Walton, along with Emily Burge and Jillian LaFrance have tallied 330 strikeouts so far this season, more than 45 more than second best Arkansas Tech and Alabama Huntsville.

Walton becomes the first player in the GSC East Division this year to be honored three times. Three players have won the award twice, and two of those are Walton's teammates. Fellow pitcher Jillian LaFrance has two weekly honors for pitching prowess, while Third baseman Nicky VanCamp has been honored twice for her offensive punch. Meanwhile, the West Division of the GSC also has one three time winner of the pitcher of the year, as Arkansas Tech hurler Casey Hammonds joins Walton as one of the league's elite.

The Argos pitching staff has now earned six of the ten pitcher of the week awards, with Walton (3), LaFrance (2), and Emily Burge (1) each earning the award. The three will lead the team into conference tournament on May 2nd, with one of the best pitching staffs in the GSC statistically. West Florida is currently 15-7 in conference play, and with four conference games remaining this upcoming weekend to determine their seed in the conference tournament. The four remaining games are all at home, with West Alabama and West Georgia visiting for doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday.