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 May 10. Merrimack senior first baseman Greg Cristino and UIC junior utility player Ashton Kampa were named National Co-Hitters of the Week, while Gonzaga sophomore left-handed pitcher Karsten Sweum and Arkansas State redshirt junior right-handed pitcher Ckyler Tengler were named Co-National Pitchers of the Week. The NCBWA Board reviews candidates from each Division I Conference and names winners each Tuesday throughout the season.
In five games last week, Cristino tallied 11 hits, 10 RBI, four doubles, and four home runs. The Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, native’s monstrous week started against Stonehill where he went yard twice. He stayed hot the very next day, racking up three hits, two of which were doubles. In the weekend sweep over Marist, Cristino had two hits in the opener. In Sunday's ten run victory, Cristino exploded for another two home runs and five RBI.
Kampa put together one of the most dominant offensive weeks in the Missouri Valley Conference this season, batting .750 (15-for-20) with four home runs, four doubles, 11 RBI and eight runs scored. The Muskego, Wisconsin, native delivered multiple clutch moments for the Flames, including a walk-off single against Illinois State on Saturday to help UIC secure the series win, and a game-tying two-run homer on Sunday to force extra innings. He recorded multi-hit and multi-RBI performances in all four games for UIC last week, including three with four-plus hits.
Sweum earned his second NCBWA National Co-Player of the Week award this season after throwing a no-hitter on Saturday, the sixth no-hitter in program history. The victory also clinched the conference regular season championship for the Bulldogs. He only had to get 21 outs thanks to a run-rule shortened game, striking out 15 of those batters. The Snohomish, Washington, native allowed just two walks and struck out 11 of the 12 total batters he faced in the middle four innings of his start. He needed just 93 pitches for the no-hitter, throwing 63 of those for strikes. Sweum has now won conference pitcher of the week three times this season and twice in the last three weeks.
Tengler's no-hitter is the first in program history since Taylor Fowler achieved the feat against Northwestern on February 19, 2005. It is also the second no-no recorded against Little Rock, last by Reggie Gatewood in 1991. The Red Wolves offense was active early, taking advantage of hit batters and free passes in the first two innings. A-State got on the board with a two-RBI single from Kaden Amundson, then crossed after an infield error caused a fire drill for the 3-0 lead.
Just two strikeouts across the opening five frames, Tengler only got stronger as the night went on, fanning out all three batters in the sixth, and striking out another two in the seventh. He handled the eighth inning with efficiency, only needing seven pitches to record three groundouts. Tengler clinched the game with two strikeouts to set him just one out away, where he drew a 6-3 groundout and was mobbed by the A-State dugout in right field. The Searcy, Arkansas, native finished the game with no hits, no walks, nine strikeouts, and 28 batters faced on 93 pitches.
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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)
• Week ending April 5: Tyson LeBlanc, Jr., INF, Kansas (Hitter); Chase Frey, Jr., LHP, Grand Canyon; Shane Brinham, Fr., LHP, Michigan (Pitchers)
• Week ending April 12: Landon Hairston, So., INF, Arizona State (Hitter); Logan Reddemann, Jr., RHP, UCLA (Pitcher)
• Week ending April 19: Drew Grego, Fr., OF, Nebraska (Hitter); Smith Bailey, So., RHP, Arizona (Pitcher)
• Week ending April 26: Eric Guevara, Jr., INF, Auburn; Jordan Jaffe, Sr., 3B, Liberty (Hitters); Tegan Kuhns, So., RHP, Tennessee; Brett Renfrow, Jr., RHP Virginia Tech (Pitchers)
• Week ending May 3: Tyce Armstrong, r-Sr., 1B, Baylor, Johnny Sweeney, fifth-year, INF, USC Upstate (Hitters); Isaiah Magdaleno, Jr., RHP, Hawaii (Pitcher)
• Week ending May 10: Greg Cristino, Sr., 1B, Merrimack' Ashton Kampa, Jr., UT, UIC (Hitters); Karsten Sweum, So., LHP, Gonzaga; Ckyler Tengler, r-Jr. RHP, Arkanas State (Pitchers)