SPARTANBURG, S.C. — On the strength of going 1-0 with three saves in four appearances last week, Appalachian State University closer Chris Patterson has been named the Southern Conference Co-Pitcher of the Week, the league office announced on Monday.

Patterson dominated in his four outings, allowing just three hits while posting an amazing 13 strikeouts (out of 18 possible outs) over 5.2 shutout innings.

He opened the stellar week by striking out four of the six batters he faced to earn the win in Appalachian's 3-2 walk-off triumph over North Carolina A&T on Tuesday. He then saved all three games of ASU's SoCon series sweep over Davidson during the weekend.

After striking out two of the three batters he faced in a perfect ninth inning to close Friday's 10-8 win, Patterson came into Saturday's contest with the Mountaineers clinging to a 4-3 lead in the eighth inning. The right-handed senior registered a remarkable seven strikeouts in two scoreless innings (four in the eighth inning and three in the ninth) with a passed ball on the third strikeout of the eighth making the rare four-K stanza possible.

On Sunday, Patterson capped the extraordinary week with a perfect ninth inning in Sunday's 7-5 win.

For the season, Patterson boasts a 2-1 record with 10 saves and a 0.77 ERA. His 10 saves are tied for second nationally (behind only Virginia's Kevin Arico, who has 11) and lead the SoCon by four (The Citadel's Drew Mahaffey, Western Carolina's Daniel Ottone and Samford's Lex Rutledge are tied for second with six apiece). He is also just one save shy of matching the single-season school record of 11, set last year by all-American Zach Quate.

Patterson shared this week's SoCon pitching honor with Georgia Southern's Andy Moye, who tossed seven shutout innings versus Elon on Sunday.

Patterson and the Mountaineers (22-7-1, 7-7-1 SoCon), the winners of eight of their last nine ballgames overall, play a home-and-home series with High Point (17-16, 4-8 Big South) this week. Game times are set for 6 p.m. Tuesday at Willard Stadium in High Point, N.C. and 6 p.m. Wednesday at ASU's Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium. Following the mid-week set, Appalachian hosts UNC Greensboro for three games this weekend at Smith Stadium with game times set for 6 p.m. Friday,  3 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.