Conference USA announced its first weekly awards for the 2026 season with Western Kentucky sophomore right hander Erica Houge earning the first Pitcher of the Week honor.

She led the Hilltoppers to their best start since 2021, finishing 4-1, while Houge also collected three wins in five games and posted a 0.00 ERA.

The Iowa native earned the win in all three shutout games and was responsible for 16.2 of the 20.2 scoreless innings posted by the WKU pitching staff.

Her complete game shutout against Georgia Southern featured a performance in which she gave up only three hits in 6.2 innings of work and collected two strikeouts. In addition, she only needed 63 pitches and faced 23 batters to earn the win.

The sophomore posted a new career high in strikeouts with seven against UNC Greensboro on Friday and matched her total against EIU on Sunday. In that same game against the Panthers, Houge only needed 72 pitches to secure the win.

WKU is back in action Friday with two games in the MUSB Invitational in Macon, Georgia. The Hilltoppers will face Army at 9 a.m. CT, then take on host Mercer at 2 p.m. The Tops will play five games in all, with a Saturday matchup against Iowa (11:30 a.m.) and a rematch against Mercer (4:30 p.m.) before finishing up with a second game against Army on Sunday (9 a.m.).