DALLAS (NCBWA) Perfection on the pitching mound and a meteoric week at the plate led Massachusetts Maritime Academy's Kevin Kwedor and UW-La Crosse's Jordan Greenland to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association's Division III national Pitcher and Hitter of the Week honors for the period of April 21-27.
Kwedor, a sophomore from Marshfield, Mass., joined the NCAA annals throwing the 25th perfect game in Division III history (and first in program's history) by retiring all 21 batters faced in Buccaneers' 4-0 victory over MCLA April 21. The Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference's Pitcher of the Week struck out six while inducing seven ground ball outs and eight fly ball outs in throwing 60 of 89 pitches for strikes. Kwedor came back six days later and went the distance in scattering seven hits and fanning four in a 1-0 setback to Framingham State.
Greenland, a senior from LaFarge, Wis., had an incredible week, hitting .500 (16-of-32) in nine games as UW-La Crosse finished 8-1. He scored nine runs with three doubles, four home runs and 21 RBIs while recording a .969 slugging percentage and .553 on-base percentage. Registering at least one hit in seven of the nine games, he also had five straight multi-hit contests. In a victory over St. Olaf College (Minn.) on April 21, he went 4-for-4 with three runs, two home runs, one double and eight RBI. The eight RBIs are tied for second in single-game school history. He followed with six RBIs in a win at Wis.-Stout on April 22. The Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's Hitter of the Week had four multi-RBI games and three contests with at least two runs.
Honorable Mention Hitters: Gaston Rojas, Keystone - 16-24 (.667) with 16 runs scored and five RBIs while starting all eight games. Drew four walks and was hit by one pitch to post a .724 on base percentage while going six-for-seven in stolen base attempts Nick Yip, Old Westbury - Smashed five home runs and knocked in 11 RBIs. Was 10-for-25 with seven runs scored and also added three walks, two doubles and a triple with a slugging percentage of 1.160.
Honorable Mention Pitchers: Dan Kluss, Concordia (Ill.) - Threw 19 innings allowing no runs on 6 hits to go with 20 Ks and 5 walks. Pitched complete-game 7-0 win v. Aurora on April 21, had no-hitter until first batter of ninth inning (finished with two-hitter). Threw 10 innings (131 pitches) April 27 in 1-0 win over MSOE, allowing just 4 hits Tyler Mitchell, Greenville - Joined the Greenville baseball record book by throwing a no-hitter in a win over Blackburn. Struck out seven and walked four.
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