DALLAS (NCBWA) – The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association has named its Dick Howser Trophy Players of the Month for May presented by The Game Headwear, tabbing Wright State senior catcher Boston Smith its national hitter of the month and LSU junior right-handed pitcher Anthony Eyanson its national pitcher of the month.
A native of Acanum, Ohio, Smith had a prolific month of May while leading Wright State into the NCAA Nashville Regional and the Horizon League Championship. Smith slugged 16 homers in 17 games in May, batting .495 (28-for-61) with 27 runs scored, four doubles, one triple and 37 RBI. He drew 19 walks, struck out 12 times and stole five bases, while sporting a 1.942 OPS. On the year, Smith shattered the league home run record while ranking tied for the nation’s lead in homers (26), while batting .330 (69-for-209) in 59 games with 70 runs, 19 doubles, two triples and 70 RBI. He drew 57 walks and struck out 52 times with 16 steals. In the NCAA Nashville Regional, which included a win over No. 1 overall seed Vanderbilt, he cranked three homers. His 16 homers in the month led all of baseball, more than MLB sluggers Shohei Ohtani (15) and Aaron Judge (11) hit in the month, and his homer total in the month would have ranked fourth in the league over the full season. Smith finished with the Horizon League career (51) and single-season record in homers, while hitting .298 over his career with 175 hits and 157 RBI.
Over the month of May, Eyanson won all four of his starts and worked in six games, with a 0.83 ERA. He worked 32 innings in May, allowing only 20 hits and seven walks, striking out 41. He helped spur the Tigers to the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional title with 9.1 innings over four days, including 7.2 shutout in the opener, and 1.2 shutout in relief in the regional final. Over his outings on the month, he worked a complete game with 14 strikeouts at Texas A&M, a six-inning shutout outing with 11 strikeouts vs. Arkansas, seven innings with two runs allowed at South Carolina and a three-inning save in the SEC Tournament vs. Texas A&M.
This marks the 10th consecutive year that the NCBWA has honored a national hitter and national pitcher of the month. 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, ncbwa.com.