Liam Doyle's masterful performance in Tennessee's series opener at Ole Miss over the weekend, earned the Vols' starting pitcher some recognition.

The right-handed Doyle was named the Co-SEC Pitcher of the Week for the third time this season after tossing a career-high 8.1 innings and tying career best 14 strikeouts to headline a 3-2 over the Rebels last Friday, the league announced Monday.

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The outing marked Doyle's return to Ole Miss, where he spent last season before transferring to Tennessee this past offseason.

“You could see maybe a little bit of extra passion but it was controlled," Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello said. "What I was originally going to talk about was the progression he’s making as a starting pitcher. I think he got a few starts as a freshman, last year started here and he’s still trying to find a way to be the best version of himself because unfortunately as a starter it’s a marathon not a sprint. You’re up and down and he’s not built like that. He’s an extreme competitor so, again, the extra focus or whatever it was helped him control that emotion and passion.

"Maybe there was extra but to be honest with you, he’s always got that to him. Maybe a little added focus, teammates helped him out behind him, but he was a Friday night SEC guy tonight."

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Doyle, whose lone blemish was a two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning, retired the next eight batters he faced, and 11 of the last 12 before relievers Nate Snead and Dylan Loy closed out the game.

The Vols went on to win the series with a ninth-inning rally, 10-8 on Sunday.

Doyle is 6-1 on the season with a 2.47 ERA and his 95 strikeouts in nine games leads all SEC pitchers. He ranks second in both strikeouts looking (25) and wins.

Fourth-ranked Tennessee (31-5, 11-4 SEC) will host Bellarmine at Lindsey Nelson Stadium on Tuesday (6 p.m. ET, SEC Network+) before turning to Doyle again for the first of three games against Kentucky (19-14, 6-9) this weekend.

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