Nathan Dettmer named SEC's Pitcher of the Week after gem in Athens
Dominant Dettmer.
On Monday, the Southeastern Conference named Texas A&M right-hander Nathan Dettmer the league’s Pitcher of the Week following a dazzling performance on Thursday night’s 8-1 win in Athens. The sophomore dominated the 13th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs across eight innings of one-run baseball.
“I just felt great from the pen, and I knew this was going to be a special day,” Dettmer said postgame on Thursday night.
Special, indeed.
For the third consecutive week, Dettmer proved to be a dependable arm as the Aggies won yet another series-opening ballgame. This week, Dettmer was the best he has been.
“He’s the right kind of guy with the right kind of demeanor, and A&M has had to have him step up the way that he has,” TexAgs’ baseball analyst Ryan Brauninger said on Monday’s edition of TexAgs Radio.
Throwing 105 pitches, Dettmer struck out a career-high nine batters without allowing a walk.
The eight innings of work are also a career-high as Dettmer helped the Aggies preserve their bullpen for Friday and Saturday as A&M ultimately took the series from UGA.
“The stuff has been fantastic,” Brauninger said. “It was his best start of the season on Thursday night. I thought he commanded his fastball to both sides of the plate.”
Dettmer only allowed one run, an unearned marker in the first inning. The San Antonio Johnson product did not allow two consecutive errors to begin the contest to rattle him as he settled in and gave the Aggies a chance to win.
In what was a 2-1 contest through four innings, the Aggies hung a four-spot on UGA reliever Garrett Brown in the fifth. With the momentum on their side, Dettmer sprinted back to the mound.
“I was running out there because it was a super long inning for them,” Dettmer said. “I had to keep the pressure on them. I didn’t want to give up any rebound runs, so I was just sprinting out there to get my boys back to score some more runs.
#35’s dominance earned him his third win of the season and lowered his ERA from 4.24 to a respectable 3.54 as he continues to blossom into a true SEC ace.
“He was awesome,” Texas A&M head coach Jim Schlossnagle said of Dettmer. “With the wind blowing out, they were hitting the ball on the ground, and we were making some plays behind him. He was certainly the story of the night.”
The honor is Dettmer’s first SEC award of his young career, and he’ll take the ball again on Friday night as Texas A&M hosts No. 4 Arkansas at Olsen Field.