Ward, Named FIT Athletes of the Week

By  //  February 16, 2014

pence is 4-0 on the season

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA — Florida Tech freshman pitcher Rachel Pence and junior pitcher Scotty Ward were named Panther Student-Athletes of the Week for the period of Feb. 3-9 on Monday and Pence earns the honor for the second straight week and its Ward’s first weekly award of the season.

Florida Tech freshman pitcher Rachel Pence and junior pitcher Scotty Ward were named Panther Student-Athletes of the Week for the period of Feb. 3-9 on Monday. Pence earns the honor for the second straight week and its Ward’s first weekly award of the season. (Florida Tech images)
Florida Tech freshman pitcher Rachel Pence and junior pitcher Scotty Ward were named Panther Student-Athletes of the Week for the period of Feb. 3-9 on Monday. Pence earns the honor for the second straight week and its Ward’s first weekly award of the season. (Florida Tech images)

Pence, a psychology major from Jacksonville, Fla., was awarded Sunshine State Conference Softball Pitcher of the Week presented by VALIC for the second straight week on Monday. Over the weekend at the Eckerd College Spring Invitational, she collected three complete-game wins and two complete-game shutouts, 2-0 versus Shorter and 7-0 against West Florida. She was one out away from a third complete-game shutout after pitching 6.2 scoreless innings against No. 5 Armstrong Atlantic in a 3-2 win. She pitched 21 innings, struck out 16 and walked just two batters during the weekend. She recorded a 0.67 ERA, while giving up just two runs, both were earned.

Over the weekend at the Eckerd College Spring Invitational, she collected three complete-game wins and two complete-game shutouts, 2-0 versus Shorter and 7-0 against West Florida. She was one out away from a third complete-game shutout after pitching 6.2 scoreless innings against No. 5 Armstrong Atlantic in a 3-2 win. She pitched 21 innings, struck out 16 and walked just two batters during the weekend. She recorded a 0.67 ERA, while giving up just two runs, both were earned.

PENCE IS 4-0 ON THE SEASON

She has thrown a perfect game, a three-hitter and a five-hitter in four career starts. She is 4-0 on the season with one save and a 0.47 ERA. She has struck out 32 batters in 30 innings pitched.

Ward, a computer science major from Port Orange, Fla., led the baseball team to a 9-1 win over Limestone. In a complete game effort, he allowed just one run on three hits and one walk, while striking out four. He only needed 89 pitches to go all nine innings.

WARD HAS AN ERA OF 0.64

He is 2-0 on the season with a 0.64 ERA and five strikeouts in 14 innings pitched.

Pence and the softball team are off to their best start in program history at 8-0. They will host No. 6 Valdosta State in a doubleheader on Wednesday at 1 p.m. at Nancy Bottge Field. Live audio and stats will be available for both games at FloridaTechSports.com/live.