DALLAS (NCBWA) The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association released its National Player of the Week awards for the period ending March 6. LSU junior first baseman Mason Katz was named National Hitter of the Week, while Wake Forest junior left-hander Brian Holmes was named National Pitcher of the Week. The NCBWA Board reviews candidates from each Division I Conference each week and names winners each Tuesday throughout the season.
Katz hit a remarkable .684 (13-for-19) in five games last week with five doubles, three homers, eight RBIs, 12 runs, a 1.421 slugging percentage and a .760 on-base percentage, leading LSU to perfect 5-0 mark. Beginning with a walk in his final plate appearance on Feb. 26 versus Appalachian State, the Harahan, La., native reached base safely in 17 consecutive plate appearances, falling just one shy of the NCAA record of 18 straight. The streak ended on Katz's first plate appearance on Saturday versus Dartmouth. During the streak of reaching base safely 17 straight times, he was 10-for-10 with three doubles, two homers, nine runs, seven walks and one stolen base.
In addition to throwing a no-hitter on Sunday, Holmes struck out a career-high 10 batters in a 5-1 win over the Marshall. The Thundering Herd scored its one run after two hit batters, a walk and a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning. Aside from that inning, Holmes retired 24 of the 25 batters he faced, hitting just one batter in the second inning. The Lawrenceville, Ga.., native retired the first four batters of the game and 16 of the first 17. Holmes ended the game by retiring the final nine batters of the game, needing just nine pitches in the seventh inning, 11 pitches in the eighth inning and 13 pitches in the ninth.
Holmes' no-hitter was the first for the Deacons since Ben Clayton performed the feat against UNC Greensboro on March 27, 2000. The win also extended Wake Forest's winning streak to eight games, which is the longest such streak since the team won 11 in a row back in 2006. Holmes' no-hitter was the first by an ACC pitcher since Virginia's Will Roberts' perfect game against George Washington last March 29.
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 on the NCBWA Division I National Players of the Week, contact NCBWA Assistant Executive Director Mike Montoro at West Virginia University at 304-293-2821.
2012 NCBWA Division I Players of the Week:
Feb. 21: William Arnold, Central Michigan (Hitter);
Robert Huber, Duke (Pitcher)
· Feb. 28: Johnny
Coy, Wichita State (Hitter); Ryan Arrowood, Appalachian State (Pitcher)
·
March 6: Mason Katz, LSU (Hitter); Brian Holmes,
Wake Forest (Pitcher)
· March 13: Daniel
Bowman, Coastal Carolina (Hitter); Michael Morin, North Carolina (Pitcher)
· March 20: Travis Jankowski, Stony Brook (Hitter);
Chris Stratton, Mississippi State (Pitcher)
·
March 27: Max Muncy, Baylor (Hitter); Sean Newcomb,
Hartford (Pitcher)
· April 3: Alex Swim,
Elon (Hitter); Bobby Wahl, Ole Miss (Pitcher)
·
April 10: Richie Shaffer, Clemson (Hitter); Sam
Moll, Memphis (Pitcher)
·
April 17: Beau Amaral, UCLA (Hitter); Henry
Sisson, Davidson (Pitcher)
·
April 24: Alex Blandino, Stanford (Hitter);
Steven Hill, Penn State and Andrew Thurman, UC Irvine (Pitcher)
·
May 1: Derek Gibson, Southeast Missouri (Hitter);
Kevin Ferguson, Northeastern (Pitcher)
·
May 8: Goose Kallunki, Utah Valley (Hitter);
Andrew Heaney, Oklahoma State (Pitcher)
·
May 15: Pablo Bermudez, FIU (Hitter);
Ross Stripling, Texas A&M (Pitcher)
·
May 22: Ryan Padilla, New Mexico (Hitter);
Mark Appel, Stanford and Tyler Duffey, Rice (Pitcher)