DALLAS (NCBWA) The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association released its weekly NCAA Division II National Players of the Week awards of the season for the period ending April 7. Colorado Mines freshman utility player Nate Olinger is the National Hitter of the Week while Indiana (Pa.) senior righthander Stephen Cooke is the National Pitcher of the Week.
Nate Olinger (Arvada, Colo.) batted .556 (10-of-18) over the weekend with a team-high 16 total bases for an .889 slugging percentage and a .550 on-base percentage (1.439 OPS) in helping the Orediggers to a 4-0 sweep over Adams State. The conference sweep was the first for an Oredigger squad since the team captured all four games against visiting Colorado Christian on March 20-22, 2008. The true freshman scored eight times and knocked in 10 runners over the four-game stretch and added four doubles, a triple and finished 1-for-1 on stolen base attempts. His weekend highlight came on Saturday when he finished a combined 7-for-7 over two games with six RBI and six runs scored over the stretch. He finished 3-for-3 with two runs and five RBI in Mines' win in the opening game of the doubleheader before closing the day with a 4-for-4 effort with one RBI and four runs scored. He capped the weekend with a 2-for-6 effort with a run scored and three RBI.
Stephen Cooke (Severn, Md.) broke the PSAC record for consecutive scoreless innings pitched with 11 shutout innings on Friday at Gannon. In a game ultimately won by the Golden Knights 1-0 in 14 innings, Cooke extended his scoreless streak to 29.1 innings pitched, covering four different games and dating back to March 15. Cooke scattered eight hits in those 11 innings, forcing 20 ground ball outs as IUP broke a single game PSAC assists mark with 24. He walked just one and struck out eight, throwing 114 pitches.
Division II Regional Players of the Week:
Atlantic: Nick Sell, Seton Hill (Hitter); Stephen Cooke, Indiana (Pa.) (Pitcher)
· Central: Cody Strang, Winona State (Hitter); Davis Ward, Ouachita Baptist (Pitcher)
· East: Mike Olszyk, Bridgeport (Hitter); Pat Simone, New Haven (Pitcher)
· Midwest: Caleb Cole, Drury (Hitter); Carson Beauchaine, Saginaw Valley State (Pitcher)
· South: Michael Danner, Tampa (Hitter); Jed Vandernaald, Lynn (Pitcher)
· South Central: Nate Olinger, Colorado Mines (Hitter); Nick Duffield, UT-Permian Basin (Pitcher)
· Southeast: Clayton Miller, Armstrong Atlantic (Hitter); John-Austin Shepard, Tusculum (Pitcher)
· West: Brody Miller, Montana State-Billings (Hitter); Ruben Rios, Cal State-San Bernardino (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.
2013 NCBWA Division II Players of the Week:
Feb. 10: Lee Neumann, Angelo State (Hitter); Nick Fogarty, Valdosta State (Pitcher)
· Feb. 17: Josh Wenger, Concord (Hitter); Ryan Goodbrand, UC San Diego (Pitcher)
· Feb. 24: Connor McCain, Alabama-Huntsville (Hitter); Chris Murphy, Millersville (Pitcher)
· March 3: Dylan Tice, Indiana, Pa. (Hitter); Junior Mendez, Southern New Hampshire (Pitcher)
· March 10: Gioncarlo Brugnoni, Grand Valley State (Hitter); Shane Trattles, Mary (Pitcher)
· March 17: Kyle Giusti, Abilene Christian (Hitter); Chris Murphy, Millersville (Pitcher)
· March 24: Charlie Sharrer, Cal State-East Bay (Hitter); Scott Lieser, St. Cloud State (Pitcher)
· March 31: Colton Little, Colorado Mesa (Hitter); Dylan James, West Texas A&M (Pitcher)
· April 7: Nate Olinger, Colorado Mines (Hitter); Stephen Cooke, Indiana (Pa.) (Pitcher)
· April 14: Ryan Messina, Shepard (Hitter); Dallas Ponder, Texas A&M-Kingsville (Pitcher)
· April 21: Brady Capshaw, Southern Arkansas (Hitter); Robert Frank, St. Thomas Aquanis (Pitcher)
· April 28: Jacob Nelson, Metro State (Hitter); Collin Sherrod, St. Edward's (Pitcher)
· May 5: Zach Bricknell, Young Harris (Hitter); Brian Ernst, East Stroudsburg (Pitcher)