DALLAS (NCBWA) The National Collegiate Baseball Writers
Association released the Pro-Line Cap National Player of the Week
awards for the period ending Feb. 14, today.
Rice
freshman outfielder Aaron Luna (Southlake, Texas) was named
National Hitter of the Week, while Arkansas sophomore left-handed
pitcher Nick Schmidt was named National Pitcher of the Week. The
NCBWA Board reviews candidates from each Division I Conference each week
and names winners each Tuesday throughout the season.
Luna opened his collegiate career by homering in his first three
at-bats, going deep twice against Central Missouri State and once
against McNeese State. He also hit a homer against Texas Tech on Friday,
making each of his first four collegiate hits home runs. Luna had five
hits total in five games for Rice, driving in nine runs and scoring
seven times.
Schmidt quickly displaced any notion of a sophomore jinx in his
season debut against perennial power Oklahoma State at the Jaguar
Invitational in Mobile, Ala. The left-hander from St. Louis, Mo., worked
the first six innings of the 12th no-hitter in school history. Schmidt
struck out six over six innings and walked three on 87 pitches. It was
the first time in 71 years of recorded baseball at Oklahoma State the
Cowboys had been held without a hit.
With this week's honor, Schmidt automatically is named to the watch
list for
Roger Clemens Award, given to the national collegiate pitcher of
the year, sponsored by the Greater Houston Baseball Organization.
The Fort Worth-based Pro-Line Cap Co. supplies the official cap to
more than 100 Division I college teams. This is the second season
Pro-Line has sponsored the NCBWA's Players of the Week. The sponsorship
provides for plaques to be awarded to each of the weekly winners and
other promotional consideration. For more information about Pro-Line,
visit their Web site at
www.prolinecap.com.
Founded in 1962, the NCBWA is dedicated to the advancement of college
baseball. Membership is open to writers, broadcasters and publicists of
the sport. For more information about the NCBWA, visit the association's
official Web site, www.ncbwa.com.
For more information on the Pro-Line Cap Players of the Week, contact
Mike Montoro at the
University of Southern Mississippi at 601-266-5947.
2006 Pro-Line Cap Players of the Week:
Feb. 14: Aaron Luna, Rice (Hitter); Nick Schmidt,
Arkansas (Pitcher)
· Feb. 21: Chris Swauger, The Citadel (Hitter);
Barry Enright, Pepperdine and Brad Furnish, TCU (Pitcher)
· Feb. 28: Kyle Russell, Texas (Hitter); Rodney
Brantley, Dallas Baptist (Pitcher)
· March 7: Luke Hopkins, New Mexico State (Hitter);
Joba Chamberlain, Nebraska (Pitcher)
· March 14: Chris Gradoville, Creighton (Hitter);
David Price, Vanderbilt (Pitcher)
· March 21: Kellen Kulbacki, James Madison (Hitter);
Daniel Best, Southern Miss and Miles Morgan, Texas Tech (Pitcher)
· March 28: Trey McDaniel, Western Carolina (Hitter);
Christian Friedrich, Eastern Kentucky (Pitcher)
· April 4: Andy D'Alessio, Clemson (Hitter); Tim
Lincecum, Washington (Pitcher)
· April 11: Reid Fronk, North Carolina (Hitter);
Adam Ottavino, Northeastern (Pitcher)
· April 18: Pedro Alvarez, Vanderbilt (Hitter);
Mike Ballard, Virginia (Pitcher)
· April 25: Case Cassedy, Furman (Hitter); Brooks
Brown, Georgia (Pitcher)
· May 2: Emeel Salem, Alabama (Hitter); Bobby Blevins, LeMoyne (Pitcher)
· May 9: Jacob Dempsey, Winthrop (Hitter); Nick Jones, Oral Roberts (Pitcher)
· May 16: Josh Dew, Troy (Hitter); Brad Lincoln, Houston (Pitcher)
Related links:
Pro-Line Cap Player of the Week plaques