April 18, 2011

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - UNLV baseball junior righty Tanner Peters was named the Mountain West Conference Pitcher of the Week for the week ending April 17th, announced the conference office on Monday.

Peters hurled his fourth complete game, including his third in his last four starts in UNLV's 7-2 series opening win last Thursday over rival BYU. The Simi Valley, Calif. native struck out the first four batters he faced and tossed a season-high 126 pitches in the winning effort, allowing just three hits and two runs on the night.

His 11 strikeouts tied a season and career-high mark and he didn't issue a walk, marking the third time this season he has not given up a free base on balls in a game. The Cougars scored both of their runs as well as all three hits in the third inning, taking a short-lived 2-0 lead before Peters went to work.

Following the third inning Peters allowed just three base runners the rest of the game, two of them reaching by error and while the third was hit by a pitch. He did not surrender a hit over the final six innings and closed out the eighth and ninth in order, using just 16 pitches to do so.

Voted the MWC's most underrated pitcher heading in the season, Peters (6-2) has totaled 73 strikeouts against just 15 walks and is holding opposing batters to a meager .192 clip from the plate. The honor marks the third of his career.

Peters and the Rebels hit the road for a week-long trip to the Lone Star state, traveling to Waco, Texas on Tuesday, April 19 for a 6:30 p.m. CT game with the Baylor Bears before heading east to Fort Worth for a three-game set with conference-rival TCU starting Thursday night.