PASTORE, FUSON ARE NCBWA DIVISION II NATIONAL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

DALLAS (NCBWA) The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association released its first NCAA Division II National Players of the Week awards for the week ending on Sunday, Feb. 6. For the first week of the 2022 season, Nova Southeastern sophomore designated hitter Duncan Pastore is the National Hitter of the Week and Fresno Pacific junior righty Justin Fuson is the National Pitcher of the Week.

Pastore (Tampa, Fla./Wharton HS) slashed .800/.867/1.700 in NSU's opening weekend series to earn Sunshine State Conference Player of the Week honors. He went 8-for-10 at the plate, with five extra-base hits, eight runs scored, nine runs batted in, three walks, and two hit by pitch. The infielder swiped a pair of bases on his way to 17 total bases in NSU's three-game set. Pastore's top game of the week saw him go 4-for-4 at the plate against No. 20 Catawba, with a home run, two doubles, three runs scored, and five runs batted in. With the play of Pastore, the Sharks defeated Catawba, Washburn, and Wheeling to start 3-0.

Fuson (Fresno, Calif./San Joaquin Memorial HS) opened the season with his 11th career win and was a memorable one for the Fresno native. He threw a seven-inning no-hitter with 11 strikeouts at home against Western Oregon, which finished runner-up in the NCAA West Regional last year. Fuson only permitted four base runners in the no-hitter with three walks and one hit batsmen. Fuson faced only 10 batters in the first three innings and struck out the side in the third inning to push his strikeout tally up to six. He struck out two batters each in the fourth and sixth innings to move within three outs of a no-hitter. Fuson never allowed a runner to reach scoring position in the game, striking out 11 of the first 20 batters faced. In the final inning, he got a groundout and flyout to move within one out of completing the no-hitter. After a walk, he induced a grounder to shortstop and Cole Yoshida flipped to second for the final out.

Division II Regional Players of the Week:

  • Atlantic: Jake Mastillo, Lock Haven (Hitter); Colt Webb, Charleston (Pitcher)
  • Central: No Nominees
  • East: No Nominees
  • Midwest: No Nominees
  • South: Duncan Pastore, Nova Southeastern (Hitter); Nathan Madej, Florida Southern (Pitcher)
  • South Central: Matt Kissamis, Texas A&M-International (Hitter); Tyler Blomster, Colorado School of Mines (Pitcher)
  • Southeast: Michael Dansky, Wingate (Hitter); Alex Hart, Barton College (Pitcher)
  • West: Willie Lajoie, Chico State (Hitter); Justin Fuson, Fresno Pacific (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.