MOREHEAD, Ky. – Lennon Spicer's hard work has finally paid off. Despite the Morehead State softball team's struggles this spring and her own middling season statistics (a 6-17 record and 4.56 earned run average), the 5-foot-9 sophomore hurler from Charlotte, Tenn., has persevered and at long last near the end of the season her persistent determination got noticed.

After a five-game stretch in which she posted a 2-1 record, with a 1.40 ERA, against 17 hits, three walks and 16 strikeouts in 20 innings, Spicer was named the Ohio Valley Conference's Pitcher of the Week by the league's softball media relations coordinators. She edged out Tennessee-Martin's Alexis Groet and Belmont's Emma Summers to claim the award. Belmont's Cheyenne Cavanaugh was named the OVC Player of the Week.

It is the first weekly on-field honor for MSU softball since April 2, 2018.

"I worked hard to make it to a Division I program and honestly being the Pitcher of the Week is a big accomplishment," she said. "We don't have the best record and it's not been a great season, but it is really nice to know that my hard work has paid off."

The Eagles have had to heavily rely on Spicer this season. She has six of MSU's seven wins and pitched 127 and one third-innings, more than the rest of the staff combined.

"This is a well-deserved honor for Lennon. She is continuously our workhorse on the mound and I am so thankful the accolades are coming in for her," Eagle coach Samantha Jones said. "She did a great job of keeping all of those batters off balance (and) getting outs for our defense (this past week)."

But it takes more than just one individual playing well to make recognition like this a reality. It takes contributions from the entire squad and success in the other facets of the game.

"This (award) wouldn't be possible without the defense behind her, as well as (our offense having) timely hits to give us some wins this past week," Jones added.

It is the team's total effort and support for each other that has bolstered Spicer's confidence this spring, even when things were not going well.

"Knowing not everybody is perfect, that some days we hit well, but our defense is off, or that we are playing great in the field but not hitting, but knowing that we are all going through it together … helps me to know that the pressure is not all on me," she said. "As a pitcher, I can't win the game all by myself. It takes all of us to do it.

"Honestly, when I play positions other than pitcher, I know that I need to pick myself up if things go wrong," Spicer added. "In my head I say, 'Yeah, they made an error, but they pick themselves up and are positive in the dugout.' Knowing that we've all got each other's back … , (is the reason) I don't let (mistakes) affect me."

That togetherness and support was epitomized when she first learned the news.

"We were getting ready for the (student-athlete) banquet and I looked down at my phone and saw a tweet from the OVC," she said. "I looked and saw that it mentioned me and I said, 'Oh my gosh, I just got OVC Pitcher of the Week,' so I went out into the hall and told the team. They were so excited for me. It's just like when Alexis (Strother) won OVC Student-Athlete of the Week and we all got excited for her. We support each other like that and it's so gratifying for me that my teammates were so supportive of me."

For the season, Spicer has a 6-17 record, a 4.56 ERA, has allowed 172 hits, 46 walks and hit 12 batters, while tallying 89 strikeouts in 127 and one-third innings. She has started 21 times and made 24 total appearances with 15 complete games and one shutout. Opponents are batting .320 against her, but she has thrown just two wild pitches.

The stats improve when facing those in the OVC. She is 5-8 with a 3.72 ERA, 42 strikeouts and 15 walks in 75 and one-third innings. She has gone the distance in 10 of her 13 appearances, surrendered 99 hits and hit six batters with just one wild pitch, but opponents are still having success at the plate against her posting a .311 average.

Spicer ranks sixth in the league in innings pitched, ninth in strikeouts, fifth in strikeouts looking, 13th in appearances, tied for fourth in games started and fourth in throwing out runners attempting to steal.

Defensively, she has been perfect. She has been involved in 34 outs without committing an error. She has played a role in throwing out 12 batters attempting to steal and helped turn a double play (which she did in the fifth inning of the third game against Tennessee State this past week). She even made a highlight-reel diving catch to preserve a win against SIUE.

Morehead State (7-34/6-18) went 2-3 last week, with wins at Tennessee Tech (5-2) on April 27 and at home against Tennessee State (3-1) on April 29. Sandwiched between those two was a 5-2 setback versus the Golden Eagles on the 27th. TSU claimed the final two outings of the weekend series with identical 4-2 victories on the 29th and 30th, with the latter contest going to eight innings.

Spicer pitched the first, third and fifth games, collecting a 2-1 record with two complete games. Opposing hitters batted .227 against her. Additionally, she hit three batters, but was flawless in five defensive chances, did not throw a wild pitch, helped catch a runner attempting to steal and started a double play.

In the first outing, Spicer pitched five innings, allowing three hits, one run (earned) and two walks, while striking out three.

"I was just making my change-up work really well. They've already seen me once, so I had to move it around a lot," she said. "As a team, we attacked their pitcher early and that also helped a lot. Every game we've won so far, we got up early. In that game, we made a lot of great defensive plays and caught a lot of bloopers that normally fall in for hits. It just seemed as if everything was meant to happen. We were meant to win that game."

The victory was significant because it snapped a string of road defeats that had reached 30 games. Once the Eagles had a lead, Spicer's confidence grew.

"Knowing that when we were three to four runs ahead, I could finally breathe a little bit and not play super tight," she added. "I got more relaxed and didn't feel like I had to strike out everyone because I had some insurance runs."

Returning home for a critical series against Tennessee State, Spicer got the club off on the right foot with a complete-game victory in the opener. She gave up three hits and no earned runs (one unearned), with one walk and eight strikeouts. The latter total was her second-highest of the season.

"Their pitcher is what we needed to see. She was a good speed for us and her pitches didn't have a lot of movement. We had so many hits right at them, but after the first time through the lineup, it just all worked out. Our defense played well, too," she said.

From a pitching standpoint, Spicer had to make some adjustments.

"A lot of teams in the OVC get my change-up. But even with Tennessee State knowing it, they still struggled with (it). I was working it at different locations and different heights," she said.

In the TSU series finale, Spicer took the game into extra innings, finishing having allowed 11 hits, four runs, three earned runs, five strikeouts and no walks. It was her longest outing of the season in which she did not surrender a walk. Despite a valiant team effort, she suffered the loss in that game, pitching all eight innings.

"That was a tough game. It was the hardest one to lose," she said. "We had it … . It stung more than the rest because we needed to win it to get into the OVCs. I think we kinda got a little relaxed and thought we could beat them. No matter who we play in the OVC, they will be tough and play all the way to the end. I think that was our biggest problem."

Still, Spicer made the Tigers have to earn the win.

"I honestly think I was really struggling with my curve and that made it a little more difficult than people realize. It was basically right there for them to hit," she said. "My screw ball and my change-up were working real well (and) keeping them off balance (also) worked."

The Eagles are on the home stretch of the season with a big three-game road series against Murray State coming up this weekend. It will be must-win territory for the Blue and Gold if it wants to extend its campaign into the OVC Tournament. The Racers are one game out of first place in the conference standings.

Coming into the weekend as the league's Pitcher of the Week will help her mindset. Pitching against Murray's ace Hannah James also has her laser focused.

"It might feel like I need to out-perform her, but that's not the case. (Winning the award) gives me a little bit of confidence, but I don't want to seem cocky. I don't like to talk about myself much, but it does help thinking that, 'Hey, other schools notice me,'" she said. "When we get out on the field, we often say, 'What do we have to lose?' It'll be our seniors' last game if we don't win, but if we win, if we sweep them, then that's what we do. Whatever we do, we'll do it for our seniors."

Morehead State will host Butler in a Wednesday doubleheader before heading to Murray for the final regular-season series. The mid-week contest with the Bulldogs will begin at 1 p.m.