KIMLING, STOVALL, LAYDEN AND HOWELL ARE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

CHICAGO (NCBWA) The National Collegiate Baseball Writers
Association
(NCBWA) released its National Hitter and Pitcher of the
Week awards for the period ending April 18.


Eastern Michigan's senior outfielder Todd Kimling and New Mexico's
Daniel Stovall have been named National Co-Hitters of the Week, while
Duke junior lefthanded pitcher Tim Layden and Texas' junior lefthanded
pitcher J.P. Howell were named National Co-Pitchers of the Week.
The NCBWA Board reviews candidates from each Division I Conference each
week and names winners each Tuesday throughout the season.


Kimling hit six home runs, four of them leading off an inning, and batted
.476 (10-for-21) in Eastern Michigan's 4-1 week. Kimling scored nine times,
drove in eight and drew four walks over a five-game span. The Monogahela,
Pa., native, hit eight home runs in his first three seasons combined, opened
the game with a home run at Detroit, then hit a three-run shot to give the
Eagles the lead in the seventh. After hitting a solo shot against Anderson,
he opened the series against rival Western Michigan going 2-for-5, which
included a solo homer to open the sixth inning. Kimling, who posted a 1.333
slugging percentage and a .560 on-base percentage, closed out the three-game
set by going 3-for-5 with two homers, three runs and a pair of RBIs.


Stovall, from Midland, Texas, belted three home runs and three doubles
last week, while helping the Lobos to a three-game sweep at Air Force. In
game one, Stovall was 4-for-4 with a solo home run and two runs scored.
He went 5-for-6 with two home runs, five RBI and two runs in game two, and
followed in game three with an RBI after going 3-for-5 from the plate. For
the week, Stovall hit .800 (12-for-15) with seven RBI and a slugging percentage
of 1.600.


Layden pitched a no-hitter on April 13 to lead the Blue Devils to a 4-0
win over Old Dominion. Layden struck out a career-high 12 batters in the
Blue Devils' first no-hitter since 1991. Layden dominated from the beginning
of the game. After ODU's lead-off hitter reached on an error to start the
game, Layden retired 17 consecutive batters. He struck out two batters in
each of the first three innings and struck out the side in the seventh.
Layden faced just 32 batters on the night, walking three. Layden also led
the Blue Devil offense, going 2-for-4 with the game-winning run.


Howell tossed his third complete game of the season against Baylor on
Sunday, April 18 to cap off a week in which he made two starts and allowed
only one run on five hits over 10 innings of work. Of note, his start against
the Bears went seven innings as the game was called due to the Big 12 Conference's
10-run rule. The Sacramento, Calif., native began the week by hurling three
innings of one hit baseball against No. 3 Rice during which he fanned six
to help the Horns post a 3-2 victory over the No. 3 Owls their fourth
consecutive triumph over Rice this year. He then returned to the mound five
days later and limited the BU offense to only four hits over seven frames
while striking out a career-best 12 en route to picking up his eighth victory
of the season.



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-American awards, publication and writing contests.


2004 NCBWA Division I Players of the Week:

Feb. 10: Josh Brady, Texas Tech (Hitter); Jered
Weaver, Long Beach State (Pitcher)


Feb. 17: Seth Johnston, Texas (Hitter); David Purcey, Oklahoma (Pitcher)

Feb. 24: Brian Bixley, Eastern Michigan (Hitter); Adam Gold,
California and Jason Urquidez, Arizona State (Pitcher)


March 2: Sean Gaston, Notre Dame and Jed Lowrie, Stanford (Hitter);
Derek Duclos, Richmond and Derek Hankins, Memphis (Pitcher)


March 9: Ryan Frith, Southern Miss and Stephen Head, Ole Miss (Hitter);
Clay Dirks, LSU and Jim Ripley, Kansas State (Pitcher)


March 16: Connor Robertson, Birmingham-Southern (Hitter); Cliff Russum,
Southern Miss (Pitcher)


March 23: Jonathan Batts, UNC Wilmington and Rielly Embrey, San Diego
State (Hitter); Jarame Beaupre, Delaware and Matt Daley, Bucknell (Pitcher)


March 30: Warner Jones, Vanderbilt (Hitter); Steve Grasley, Creighton
and Jered Weaver, Long Beach State (Pitcher)


April 6: Grant Richardson, Washington State (Hitter); Dennis Bigley,
Oral Roberts (Pitcher)


April 13: Brad Corley, Mississippi State (Hitter); Brian Bogusevic,
Tulane (Pitcher)


April 20: Todd Kimling, Eastern Michigan and Daniel Stovall, New Mexico
(Hitter); Tim Layden, Duke and J.P. Howell, Texas (Pitcher)


April 27: Nic Crosta, Santa Clara and Richard Gianotto, Miami (Hitter);
Matt Campbell, South Carolina and Zack Zuercher, Rhode Island (Pitcher)


May 4: Brian Hall, Stanford and Kurt Suzuki, Cal State
Fullerton (Hitter); Zac Cline, West Virginia and Arik Hempy, South Carolina (Pitcher)


May 11: Justin Holmes, Georgia and Lee McLean, UNC Wilmington
(Hitter); Tim Lincecum, Washington and Jered Weaver, Long Beach State (Pitcher)


May 18: Steve Cavarati, Ohio State and Eric Nielsen, UNLV (Hitter);
Mike Rogers and Vern Sterry, N.C. State (Pitcher)


May 25: Josh Ford, Baylor and Andy Hudak, Bowling Green (Hitter);
Greg Bunn, East Carolina and Jason Windsor, Cal State Fullerton (Pitcher)