UNO’s Pearce Howard earns second Southland Hitter of the week honor this season

FRISCO, Texas –New Orleans’ Pearce Howard is the Southland Conference Hitter of the Week and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi starter Jaime Ramirez Jr. earns Pitcher of the Week honors, the league announced Monday. Weekly awards are presented by GEICO.

Howard hit .400 on the week with nine RBI and five runs scored to lead a high-scoring Privateer offense that plated 49 runs in four games. UNO topped crosstown foe Tulane 14-6 before posting a pair of 14-run outings in a series win over HBU. The Privateers (16-10, 3-3 SLC) visit Southern at 6 p.m. CT Tuesday and host McNeese for a three-game series starting at 6:30 p.m. Friday. All three games will be streamed on ESPN+.

Earning his first start of the year after seven appearances out of the bullpen, Ramirez Jr. proved himself with nine shutout innings of work in the series finale against Northwestern State. He struck out six batters, walked one and allowed just four hits to the potent Demon lineup that scored 19 runs in the first two games of the weekend. The Islanders (15-15, 2-4 SLC) are set to play an exhibition game against the Corpus Christi Hooks, the Double-A affiliate of the Houston Astros, before heading to Hammond, America, for a three-game series with Southeastern this weekend.

Hitter of the Week – Pearce Howard, New Orleans – Senior – Outfielder – Silver Spring, Md.
Picking up his second weekly award of the season and the third of his career, Howard opened the week with a three-hit outing against Tulane, driving in three of the team’s runs, scoring three and belting his fourth home run of the season. Following a trio of run-scoring singles in the first two games versus HBU, he came back with two more RBI base knocks in the rubber match to help the Privateers to a 14-10 victory.

Honorable Mention: Wilson Ehrhardt, UIW; Payton Harden, McNeese; Bryce Holmes, Northwestern State; Christian Garcia, Southeastern.

Pitcher of the Week – Jaime Ramirez Jr., A&M-Corpus Christi – Sophomore – Starting Pitcher – San Antonio, Texas
Getting the starting nod for the first time since May 14, 2021, Ramirez Jr. performed like a natural starter with a career-long nine innings of scoreless work against Northwestern State. After giving up a leadoff double in the opening frame, he retired the next 10 Demons. Ramirez Jr. needed just 102 pitches to navigate through nine innings, ending the day with six punchouts and allowed just four hits and a walk. This marks his first career weekly honor.

Honorable Mention: Chandler David, UIW; Devin Desandro, Nicholls; Andrew Reitmeyer, HBU; Hayden Thomas, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

Southland weekly award winners are nominated and voted upon by each school’s sports information director. Voting for one’s own athlete is not permitted. To earn honorable mention, a student-athlete must appear on 25 percent of ballots.

2022 Southland Baseball Players of the Week
April 4 – Pearce Howard, New Orleans; Jaime Ramirez Jr., Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
March 28 – Alec Paz, Nicholls; Johnathan Harmon, Northwestern State.
March 21 – Amani Larry, New Orleans; Adam Guth, Southeastern.
March 14 – Garrett Felix, Nicholls; Collin Horton, New Orleans
March 8 – Brendan Ryan, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi; Cameron Foster, McNeese
March 1 – Pearce Howard, New Orleans; Michael Garza, UIW
Feb. 22 – Jake Miller, HBU; Grant Rogers, McNeese