Oklahoma’s Pickering Headlines SEC Weekly Awards After Monster .833 Week
SEC Softball Weekly Awards
We are already cruising early through the season, and there have been some standout performances and players across the SEC. Over the last week, there have been a lot of runs put up and some great pitching. For the second time already this season, a pitcher from the University of Tennessee has captured a pitcher of the week honor. This time, it isn’t Karlyn Pickens. Oklahoma is back to putting up major runs, and keep an eye on Arkansas and Mississippi State as well. They all turned in standout work over the last week. Check out below to see who, and also see who took home conference awards this week.
Player of the Week: Kasidi Pickering, Oklahoma
Oklahoma’s Kasidi Pickering flat out terrorized pitching staffs this past week. The junior outfielder from Humble, Texas, posted an .833 batting average as the Sooners rolled to a 5-0 week between the Troy Cox Classic and a Sunday trip to UTEP. She racked up 10 hits, including three doubles and three home runs, while driving in 11 and scoring 13 runs. She also drew six walks and swiped a stolen base, and she saved her best for last. In the finale against UTEP, Pickering went off for a career-high four hits, with three of those being doubles to tie a program single-game record.
Co-Pitchers of the Week: Robyn Herron, Arkansas / Erin Nuwer, Tennessee
Arkansas lefty Robyn Herron was lights out at the States Up Invitational. The senior from Tampa, Fla., tossed a complete-game shutout against No. 18 Clemson, striking out 11 over five innings while surrendering just one hit and two walks. She then came on in relief against BYU and gave up absolutely nothing, fanning four and allowing one walk and zero hits in 1.2 innings of work.
Tennessee’s Erin Nuwer continues to look like one of the most dangerous arms in the country. The sophomore right-hander from East Aurora, N.Y., picked up three wins at the Shriners Children’s Clearwater Invitational and just kept building momentum as the week went on. She came in for one inning of relief against No. 11 Nebraska, where she struck out three and helped the Lady Vols’ bullpen combine to hold the Huskers hitless over the final four frames in a 4-1 win.
Later that night, she anchored an 11-0 victory over James Madison with four innings of relief, striking out six. Then she capped the week by going the distance against No. 6 UCLA, holding the Bruins to just one hit while striking out four in an 11-0 run-rule win in five innings. That one-hit performance was the first time UCLA had been held to a single hit since 2022. Nuwer is now 5-0 on the season and has been on a different level through the first two weekends.
Co-Freshmen of the Week: Kinley Keller, Mississippi State / Kai Minor, Oklahoma
Mississippi State’s Kinley Keller had herself a week, as a .667 hitter. The freshman outfielder from New Braunfels, Texas, ramped up for the weekend, as the Bulldogs went a perfect 5-0 in The Snowman: Alex Wilcox Memorial. She led the team with seven runs scored and added four RBI across the week. At The Snowman tournament, she was on it, going 8-for-11 (.727) with four doubles while recording a hit in every game.
Oklahoma freshman Kai Minor from Irvine, Calif., was right there with Pickering in the Sooners’ lineup all week. Minor hit .692 over Oklahoma’s five wins, going 9-for-13 with seven runs scored and nine RBI. She collected at least one hit in every game. Her best showing came Saturday against Idaho State when she tripled, homered, and drove in four.
Stay tuned for another exciting week of softball across the SEC and see who will be standouts. Oklahoma heads to California for the Mary Nutter Classic, Arkansas is back home for the Razorback Invitational, Tennessee heads to Birmingham for the UAB Tournament, and Mississippi State is back home for the Bulldog Invitational.
