CHICAGO (NCBWA) The National Collegiate Baseball Writers
Association (NCBWA) released its National Hitter and Pitcher of the
Week awards for the period ending March 21.
San Diego State's senior first baseman Rielly Embrey and UNC Wilmington
freshman third baseman Jonathan Batts have been named National Co-Hitters
of the Week, while Bucknell senior Matt Daley and Delaware senior
Jarame Beaupre were named National Co-Pitchers of the Week. The NCBWA
Board reviews candidates from each Division I Conference each week and names
winners each Tuesday throughout the season.
Embry led the Aztecs to a three-game sweep of Air Force as he hit .727
and drove in nine runs in the series. He was 4-for-4 with four RBIs in game
one against the Falcons and followed in Game 2 by going 4-for-4 with a home
run, a double and drove in four runs. In game three, the Poway, Calif.,
native drew a walk and drove in another run with a sacrifice fly. He was
also perfect in the field at first base, recording 17 putouts with no errors.
Batts hit .786 (11-for-14) with a double, two homers and seven RBI as
UNC Wilmington won two of three from Kent State. The Wilmington, N.C., native
tied a UNCW record for hits in a game by going 5-for-5 in Sunday's 10-9
win, including a key three-run homer that helped the Seahawks rally from
a five-run deficit. He also had four hits in a loss on Saturday. Batts is
leading the Colonial Athletic Association with a .452 batting average and
has hit safely in 16 of his first 18 collegiate games.
Daley won a pair of games in Florida. The Garden City, N.Y., native tossed
8.2 innings of no-hit ball en route to a 16-0 victory over Dartmouth Saturday.
Daley fanned eight Big Green batters en route to a complete-game win. His
other outing last week was a 7-0 victory over Vermont Monday. Daley gave
up two hits and struck out eight batters in six innings on the mound.
Beaupre tossed the sixth no-hitter in Delaware history as the Hens beat
Hartford, 13-0, on Saturday. The Colorado Springs, Colo., native struck
out seven and allowed just two runners to reach base over nine innings.
For the season, Beaupre is 2-0 with an 0.78 ERA.
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-American awards, publication and writing contests.
2004 NCBWA Division I Players of the Week:
• Feb. 10: Josh Brady, Texas Tech (Hitter); Jered
Weaver, Long Beach State (Pitcher)
• Feb. 17: Seth Johnston, Texas (Hitter); David Purcey, Oklahoma (Pitcher)
• Feb. 24: Brian Bixley, Eastern Michigan (Hitter); Adam Gold,
California and Jason Urquidez, Arizona State (Pitcher)
• March 2: Sean Gaston, Notre Dame and Jed Lowrie, Stanford (Hitter);
Derek Duclos, Richmond and Derek Hankins, Memphis (Pitcher)
• March 9: Ryan Frith, Southern Miss and Stephen Head, Ole Miss (Hitter);
Clay Dirks, LSU and Jim Ripley, Kansas State (Pitcher)
• March 16: Connor Robertson, Birmingham-Southern (Hitter); Cliff Russum,
Southern Miss (Pitcher)
• March 23: Jonathan Batts, UNC Wilmington and Rielly Embrey, San Diego
State (Hitter); Jarame Beaupre, Delaware and Matt Daley, Bucknell (Pitcher)
• March 30: Warner Jones, Vanderbilt (Hitter); Steve Grasley, Creighton
and Jered Weaver, Long Beach State (Pitcher)
• April 6: Grant Richardson, Washington State (Hitter); Dennis Bigley,
Oral Roberts (Pitcher)
• April 13: Brad Corley, Mississippi State (Hitter); Brian Bogusevic,
Tulane (Pitcher)
• April 20: Todd Kimling, Eastern Michigan and Daniel Stovall, New Mexico
(Hitter); Tim Layden, Duke and J.P. Howell, Texas (Pitcher)
• April 27: Nic Crosta, Santa Clara and Richard Gianotto, Miami (Hitter);
Matt Campbell, South Carolina and Zack Zuercher, Rhode Island (Pitcher)
• May 4: Brian Hall, Stanford and Kurt Suzuki, Cal State
Fullerton (Hitter); Zac Cline, West Virginia and Arik Hempy, South Carolina (Pitcher)
• May 11: Justin Holmes, Georgia and Lee McLean, UNC Wilmington
(Hitter); Tim Lincecum, Washington and Jered Weaver, Long Beach State (Pitcher)
• May 18: Steve Cavarati, Ohio State and Eric Nielsen, UNLV (Hitter);
Mike Rogers and Vern Sterry, N.C. State (Pitcher)
• May 25: Josh Ford, Baylor and Andy Hudak, Bowling Green (Hitter);
Greg Bunn, East Carolina and Jason Windsor, Cal State Fullerton (Pitcher)