May 5, 2008

AUBURN, Ala. - Redshirt-freshman Grant Dayton was named the Southeastern Conference's Freshman of the Week after his dominating performance on the mound in Friday night's series-opening win over Mississippi State, the conference office announced Monday afternoon.

Dayton, a left-handed pitcher, surrendered just four runs (only one earned) on four hits and three walks in 7.0 innings to run his record to 7-1 on the year. In the process, he became the first Auburn pitcher to strikeout 12 hitters in a single contest since Eric Brandon did it in 2002 and the first to do it in a SEC game since Chris Bootcheck did it against South Carolina in 1999.

A native of Huntsville, Ala., Dayton has won six straight decisions and is 6-1 in SEC play, marking the first time since Hayden Gliemmo went 6-2 in 1998 that a Tiger hurler has collected six wins in a single conference season.

Auburn (26-23, 10-14 SEC) is currently in 11th place in the SEC standings but is just a game out of 8th with six league games remaining. Auburn will play its final SEC road series of the year this weekend when it travels to Oxford, Miss., for a three-game set with Ole Miss (31-19, 12-12 SEC), which is currently seventh in the overall standings.