DALLAS (NCBWA) The first cycle of the Div. III season was logged by this week·s National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Div. III Rookie of the Week, while a no-hitter and a near-.700 average rounded out this week·s winners. This week·s honorees · all from Pennsylvania institutions · were selected based on performances spanning March 11-17.
Hitter of the Week: Junior outfielder Holden Bridge hit safely in 19-of-28 plate appearances in six games for No. 8 Swarthmore College last week in Florida. Bridge, who recorded a .679 average, had six hits in the Garnets 22-6 win over the State University of New York at Canton, which tied 10 other Centennial Conference players for the single-game hits record. Bridge registered nine RBI, nine runs scored, three doubles, and a stolen base, as the Garnet went 5-1 during the week. He only struck out once in his 28 at bats.
Honorable Mention Hitter: Graham Welch, Sr., CF, University of Texas at Tyler Recorded a pair of multi-home run games as the Patriots took two out of three from the University of Texas at Dallas on the road. He hit .750 (9-for-12) with five RBI, four home runs, and two doubles. Welch tallied 23 total bases, scored four times, and had a 1.917 slugging percentage.
Pitcher of the Week: Arcadia University junior Tyler Showers was near perfect in a 6-0 win over Messiah College. Showers threw the programs second-ever no-hitter to lead the Knights to victory. The junior needed just 87 pitches over seven innings to accomplish the feat. He struck out six batter. Showers· only blemish came on a leadoff walk in the fourth inning.
Honorable Mention Pitcher: Jordan Muchin, Sr., Eastern Connecticut State University Was named Little East Conference Baseball Pitcher of the Week after shutting down No. 1 The College of Wooster on Sunday. The senior fanned 11 batters while yielding just four hits over eight shutout innings, as the Warriors blanked the Fighting Scots to close out their Florida trip.
Rookie of the Week: Grove City Colleges Colton Lineman hit for the cycle on Friday in the Wolverines· victory at Penn State Greater Allegheny. Lineman led off Friday·s game with a home run, then tripled to lead off the fourth. He cracked a one-out single in the sixth, then completed the cycle in the eighth with a bloop double to left. Lineman finished the 7-0 game 4-for-5 with two runs score and two RBI.
Noteworthy, all four NCBWA Div. III Rookie of the Week awards in 2019 have gone to teams from the Mideast Region.
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2019 NCBWA Division III Players of the Week:
Week ending Feb. 24: Tre D'Amico, Frostburg State (Hitter); Keith Long, Texas-Tyler (Pitcher); Andrew Santobuono, Alfred State (Rookie)
· Week ending March 3: Deauton Delgado, Louisiana College (Hitter); David Hall, Belhaven (Pitcher); Casey Jones, St. Vincent College (Rookie)
· Week ending March 10: Davis Mikell, Castleton (Hitter); Jake Binder, Ithaca (Pitcher); Jacob Thompson, Oberlin (Rookie)
· Week ending March 17: Holden Bridge, Swarthmore (Hitter); Tyler Showers, Arcadia (Pitcher); Colton Lineman, Grove City (Rookie)
· Week ending March 24: Preston Ludwick, Centenary (Hitter); Brian Johnson, Springfield (Pitcher); Mason Sefcik, St. Norbert (Rookie)
· Week ending March 31: Chris DeGiacomo, Johns Hopkins (Hitter); Chris Atwood, Wisconsin-Oshkosh (Pitcher); Jacob Thompson, Oberlin (Rookie)
· Week ending April 7: Zack Smith, Salve Regina (Hitter); Worth Walrod, Suffolk (Pitcher); Nick Denove, Case Western Reserve (Rookie)
· Week ending April 14: Christian Jones, Catholic (Hitter); Shayne Audet, New England College (Pitcher); Dylan Fashempour, UMass-Boston (Rookie)
· Week ending April 21: Joey Stock, Saint John's, Minn. (Hitter); Connor Cook, Wisconsin-LaCrosse (Pitcher); Kyle Schaefer, Roger Williams (Rookie)
· Week ending April 28: Colin BeVard, Cortland (Hitter); Matt O·Sullivan, Wisconsin-Whitewater (Pitcher); Damen Castillo, Benedictine (Rookie)
· Week ending May 5: Eric Devore, Heidelberg (Hitter); Ryan Loutos Washington (Pitcher); Kobe Rogerson, Husson (Rookie)