South African recruit Dylan Unsworth hasn’t taken long to establish himself as Perth Heat’s top-ranked pitcher.

Unsworth put Perth on the path to victory in opening series wins against Auckland Tuatara and Canberra Cavalry with standout efforts in game one of each.

The 27-year-old from Durban will be called upon for another big effort in the top-of-the-table Southwest Conference clash against Melbourne Aces at Melbourne Ballpark today.

Unsworth finished with 10 strikeouts in a complete game against Auckland and was also prominent with seven in eight innings against Canberra.

Coach Brooke Knight said Perth pitchers had played a big part in the club’s promising start to the ABL season.

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“Our starting pitching has been as good as anyone in the league,” Knight said.

“Our starters have given us every opportunity to come out with a win.”

Knight singled out Unsworth but said others had been valuable contributors in the first two rounds.

“Dylan Unsworth has been exceptional,” he said.

“He’s definitely mixing it up, changing speeds, keeping guys off balance and he’s been really, really sharp the first two outings.

“Johnny Anderson had a really good outing for us then young Conor Lourey has been very consistent.

“He was better against Canberra than in Auckland which was really encouraging, made the pitches he needed to make so he’s going to get another opportunity and hopefully he has a great outing.”