LUBBOCK, Texas (March 6, 2019) – For the first time in four years, an Oklahoma Christian baseball player has earned a South Central Region weekly honor.

On Tuesday night, OC junior left-hander Gabe Rodery was named as the region's pitcher of the week by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, recognizing his outstanding performance in a win Friday over Rogers State.

Earlier Tuesday, he had been named as the Heartland Conference's pitcher of the week, and then he beat out nominees from the region's two other leagues, the Lone Star Conference and the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, for the NCBWA honor.

Rodery, from Verdigris, is the first OC player to win a weekly regional honor since Dillon Endecott was named as the regional pitcher of the week in March 2015. Besides those two, the only other OC player to receive a weekly regional honor was Blake Stringer, who was named as the regional hitter of the week in March 2013.

Pitching in 29-degree weather, Rodery led OC to a 4-0 win over a Rogers State team ranked No. 8 in the South Central Region. He threw a four-hit shutout, recording 10 strikeouts (including five looking) and walking none.  Only two Rogers State runners advanced as far as third base.

In 24 innings this season, Rodery has a 1.50 ERA, second-best in the Heartland among starting pitchers, and 33 strikeouts, third-highest in the league.

OC (11-2) will take a five-game winning streak into its weekend series at Arkansas-Fort Smith, which will start with a 3 p.m. doubleheader on Friday.