DALLAS (NCBWA) – The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) released its Dick Howser Trophy National Player of the Week awards presented by The Game Headwear for the period ending Feb. 25. USC Upstate junior outfielder Jace Rinehart was named National Hitter of the Week, while Arkansas junior left-handed pitcher Hagen Smith was named National Pitcher of the Week. The NCBWA Board reviews candidates from each Division I Conference and names winners each Tuesday throughout the season.
Rinehart recorded a pair of multi-homer games and a five-hit effort – finishing a triple shy of the cycle – last week across four games. The Mannington, West Virginia, native posted a three-slash line of .556/.579/1.611 with 10 hits (10/18), eight extra-base hits, five home runs, 11 RBI, nine runs scored and 29 total bases while stealing three bases. He began the week with his second career multi-homer effort, slugging two homers while driving in four in the midweek against Western Carolina.
Rinehart followed with a two-hit day against Quinnipiac, collecting a triple, an RBI, scored a run and had a stolen base against the Bobcats. He clubbed a solo homer against Canisius, adding two runs scored, an HBP and stolen base in the game. He capped his week with a 5-for-6 effort, collecting 13 total bases with two doubles and two home runs, driving home a career-high five runs, scoring four times and stealing a base. Rinehart’s effort against Saint Joseph’s makes him the lone Spartan to record a five-hit game and multi-HR game in the same game, the lone Spartan with three or more career multi-HR games and the program record holder for total bases in a single game.
Smith tied a single-game program record with 17 strikeouts to lead No. 2 Arkansas to a memorable 5-4 win over No. 7 Oregon State on Feb. 23 in the Kubota College Baseball Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. It took the Bullard, Texas, native only 18 outs and 78 pitches, including 59 strikes, to tie the Razorbacks’ single-game strikeout record, which had stood for nearly 17 years. Smith, who allowed just three hits and issued only one walk over six scoreless innings, recorded 15 consecutive outs via strikeout to begin the ballgame. His 17-strikeout performance on the mound was also a Globe Life Field single-game record.
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, contact NCBWA Executive Associate Director Mike Montoro (304-293-2821, mike.montoro@mail.wvu.edu).