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 March 29. Gonzaga junior infielder Maddox Haley and Purdue senior centerfielder Brandon Rogers were named National Co-Hitters of the Week, while Northern Illinois’ senior left-handed pitcher Max Vaisvila 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.
Haley posted a .737 batting average and a 1.684 slugging percentage. The San Diego, California, native boasted an OPS of 2.434 across the week, slugging five home runs, with two multi-home run games. He scored 10 runs with nine RBI. Haley also added a stolen base and three doubles. He tied a program record for hits in a game with five (including a run-rule walk-off home run) against Washington State and collected eight extra base hits and 32 total bases on the week.
Rogers hit two of Purdue’s four grand slams, while recording a league-leading 13 RBI over five games. The Chicago native, helped the Boilermakers score 51 runs, while posting a 4-1 record during their busiest week of the season. He finished the week 9-for-22 with a 1.322 OPS, hitting safely in all five games and extending his on-base streak to 20 consecutive contests.
Rogers posted a multi-homer game during Purdue’s six-game homestand that concluded with Wednesday’s win vs. UIC. He joined Neal Gorka (April 2006) as Boilermakers this century to hit two grand slams in the same week. He cleared the bases in the first inning of the UIC win, teaming up with Trey Swiderski for Purdue’s first set of back-to-back jacks this season. Rogers hit another 400-foot home run in the eighth inning for his first collegiate multi-homer game.
Rogers’ second grand slam punctuated the scoring in a six-run third inning Sunday at Michigan State, helping the Boilers win their first series in East Lansing since 2009.
Vaisvila moved to 5-0 on the season with NIU's first one-hitter since 2014 on Saturday in the Huskies' 5-0 win over Bowling Green. The Villa Park, Illinois, native took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before allowing his first and only hit. Vaisvila is the first Huskie to throw a complete game shutout since Michael Lasiewicz on May 22, 2019 against Miami in the Mid-American Conference tournament. He had a career-high 14 strikeouts on the day, the second-most in a single game in NIU history. Vaisvila is the first NIU pitcher since Eli Anderson in 2014 to have consecutive complete games. The senior lefty has not allowed a run in his last 17 innings pitched. D1Baseball ranked Vaisvila's game on Saturday as the top pitching performance in the country for March 28. Vaisvila has 36 strikeouts in his last 37 innings pitched and a 1.22 earned run average over that stretch.
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2026 Dick Howser Trophy National Players of the Week
• Week ending Feb. 15: Tyce Armstrong, r-Sr., 1B, Baylor, Dee Kennedy, Jr., SS, Kansas State (Hitters); Chris Olivier, Sr., RHP, Lamar (Pitcher)
• Week ending Feb. 22: Will Gasparino, Jr., OF, UCLA (Hitter); Colin Fisher, Jr., LHP, Arkansas, Dax Whitney, So., RHP, Oregon State (Pitchers)
• Week ending March 1: Cider Cannon, Jr., C/RF, Duke, Weber Neels, Sr., C, Minnesota (Hitters); Andrew Herrmann, LHP, Graduate Student, Louisiana (Pitcher)
• Week ending March 8: Lorenzo Carrier, R-Sr., OF, Pitt, Quinton Coats, So., INF, Cincinnati (Hitters); Grayden Harris, So., LHP, Southern Miss (Pitcher)
• Week ending March 15: James Smith IV, Sr., OF/P, Memphis (Hitter); Trey Beard, Jr., RHP, Florida State, Maxx Yehl, r-Jr., LHP, West Virginia. (Pitchers)
• Week ending March 22: Brayden Bakes, Sr., OF, Illinois State; Terrick Thompson-Allen, Gr., OF, SIU-Edwardsville (Hitters); Tyler Fay, r-Jr., RHP, Alabama (Pitcher)
• Week ending March 29: Maddox Haley, Jr., INF, Gonzaga, Brandon Rogers, Sr., CF, Purdue (Hitters); Max Vaisvila, Sr., LHP, Northern Illinois (Pitcher)