DALLAS (NCBWA) The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association released its NCAA Division II National Players of the Week awards for the period ending March 27th. Cameron junior outfielder Chase Larsson is the National Hitter of the Week while Alabama-Huntsville junior right-hander Ryan Griffin is the National Pitcher of the Week.
Chase Larsson (Vancouver, British Columbia) set an NCAA Division II record this week for the most consecutive games with a home run as well as being one of two powerful offensive threats at the plate for the Aggies. Larsson has now homered in nine consecutive games, besting Central Missouris Ben Slemmer 1998 record of seven. Over that span, Larsson has also tied teammate Kenny Held for the most home runs in the country with 16. During the week, he had a .458 average and a 1.542 slugging percentage. Of his 11 hits, nine of them were home runs. He also drove in 17 runs, while scoring 13.
Ryan Griffin (Athens, Ala.) helped lead the Chargers to a road series win at West Alabama last Saturday behind his one-hit outing against the Tigers in game two of the doubleheader. Griffin dominated the Tiger lineup notching a career-high eight strikeouts and allowing the lone hit and a pair of walks in the outing. The 1-0 blanking is only the third shutout in school history via that score and the first since 2007. With opponents hitting a mere .196 against Griffin, the former Clements High standout leads the UAH pitching staff with a 2.70 ERA and 4-0 record this season in seven starts. The junior also leads the team in strikeouts with 44, a number that ranks fifth in the Gulf South Conference.
Division II Regional Players of the Week:
Central: Zach Krueger, Metro State (Hitter); Blake Schwartz, Minnesota State (Pitcher)
· East: Cam Kneeland, UMASS-Lowell (Hitter); Kurt Bruce, Wilmington (Pitcher)
· Midwest: Angelo Burrage, St. Joseph·s College (Hitter); Eric Meyerchick, St. Joseph·s College (Pitcher)
· South: Dean Green, Barry (Hitter); Ryan Griffin, Alabama-Huntsville (Pitcher)
· South Central: Chase Larsson, Cameron (Hitter); Heath Wyatt, SE Oklahoma State (Pitcher)
· West: Kevin Pillar, Cal. St.-Dominguez Hills (Hitter); Andrew Stueve, Cal. St.-Stanislaus (Pitcher)
Founded in 1962, the NCBWA is dedicated to the advancement of college baseball. Membership is open to writers, broadcasters and publicists of the sport. Members receive a membership card, directory, newsletter updates and official votes in the Howser Award Player of the Year, Regional Player of the Year and NCBWA All-America voting. The NCBWA also sponsors preseason All-America awards, publication and writing contests.
2011 NCBWA Division II Players of the Week:
Feb. 20: Tyler Migl, St. Mary's, Texas (Hitter);
Trey Mitchell, North Alabama (Pitcher)
· Feb. 27: Wayne Hawkins, Arkansas-Monticello
(Hitter); Dave Middendorf, Northern Kentucky (Pitcher)
· March 6: Drew Dwelly, Barry (Hitter); Gabriel
Asakura, Cal State-Los Angeles (Pitcher)
· March 13: Kaleb Cunningham, Indianapolis (Hitter);
Manny Rodriguez, Barry (Pitcher)
· March 20: Brandon Gipson, Benedict (Hitter);
Mike Fuller, Colorado-Mines (Pitcher)
· March 27: Chase Larsson, Cameron (Hitter);
Ryan Griffin, Alabama-Huntsville (Pitcher)
· April 4: Jenzen Torres, Cal Poly Pomona (Hitter);
Joby Lapkowicz, Slippery Rock (Pitcher)
· April 11: Chase Larsson, Cameron (Hitter);
Ben Hawkins, West Florida (Pitcher)
· April 18: Dillon Hazlett, Emporia State (Hitter);
Vinny DePierro, UMass Lowell (Pitcher)
· April 25: Daniel Dillard, Western Oregon (Hitter);
Zach Jeney, Slippery Rock (Pitcher)
· May 2: Josh Vining, Valdosta State (Hitter);
Scott Lieser, St. Cloud State (Pitcher)
· May 9: Clay Mohr, New Mexico Highlands (Hitter);
Grady Wood, Western Oregon (Pitcher)