DALLAS (NCBWA) The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association released its National Player of the Week awards for the period ending February 24. Ole Miss junior catcher/outfielder Thomas Dillard was named National Hitter of the Week, while Michigan junior left-handed pitcher Tommy Henry 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.
Dillard hit .412 and posted a 1.118 slugging percentage over four games. The Oxford, Miss., native hit for the cycle over the week with seven hits, including a double, a triple and three home runs. He scored four runs and drove in 13, amassing 19 total bases.
Dillard's outstanding week began against Arkansas State, finishing 2-for-4 at the plate with a home run, a triple, three RBI and three runs scored and adding a stolen base in the Rebels' 15-3 win. He went 1-for-4 with a key RBI single late in Ole Miss' 6-4 win in Game 1 at Tulane. In Game 2, he posted a career game, going 3-for-5 with two home runs and eight RBI. He closed his weekend with another 1-for-4 performance, again adding an RBI base hit to help the Rebels climb back from a 3-0 deficit and win 6-3 to clinch the series victory on the road.
Henry finished with an impressive performance in a 2-0 shutout at The Citadel on Friday (Feb. 22). The Portage, Mich., native pitched a complete-game, one-hit shutout against the Bulldogs and struck out a career-high 13 batters in the process. He faced the minimum 27 batters and did so in quick fashion, throwing just 88 pitches in the game. He threw first pitch strikes to 21 of the 27 batters.
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.
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.
2019 NCBWA Division I Players of the Week:
Week ending Feb. 17: Austin Martin, Vanderbilt (Hitter); Grant Judkins, Iowa (Pitcher)
· Week ending Feb. 24: Thomas Dillard, Ole Miss (Hitter); Tommy Henry, Michigan (Pitcher)
· Week ending March 3: Harrison Freed, Butler and TJ Hopkins, South Carolina (Hitter); Tanner Burns, Auburn (Pitcher)
· Week ending March 10: Cameron Warren, Texas Tech (Hitter); Jake Kuchmaner, East Carolina and Chris Gerard, Virginia Tech (Pitcher)
· Week ending March 17: Chris Lanzilli, Wake Forest (Hitter); Jake Kuchmaner, East Carolina (Pitcher)
· Week ending March 24: Tristan Peterson, New Mexico State (Hitter); Connor Thomas, Georgia Tech (Pitcher)
· Week ending March 31: Jake Sanford, WKU (Hitter); Zach Thompson, Kentucky (Pitcher)
· Week ending April 7: Kody Hoese, Tulane (Hitter); Alek Manoah, West Virginia (Pitcher)
· Week ending April 14: Spencer Steer, Oregon (Hitter); Cody Luther, Saint Louis and Ryan Shreve, Pacific (Pitcher)
· Week ending April 21: Logan Wyatt, Louisville (Hitter); Alek Manoah, West Virginia (Pitcher)
· Week ending April 28: Keaton Smith, Nevada (Hitter); Ryan Garcia, UCLA (Pitcher)
· Week ending May 5: Chase Smartt, Troy (Hitter); Andy Fisher, Illinois (Pitcher)
· Week ending May 12: Bryce Ball, Dallas Baptist (Hitter); Micah Kaczor, East Tennessee State (Pitcher)
· Week ending May 19: Andrew Daschbach, Stanford (Hitter); Seth Lonsway, Ohio State (Pitcher)
2019 NCBWA Division I Players of the Month:
February: Nick Gonzales, New Mexico State (Player); John Doxakis, Texas A&M (Pitcher)
· March: Hunter Bishop, Arizona State (Player); Reid Detmers, Louisville (Pitcher)
· April: Adley Rutschman, Oregon State (Player); Alek Manoah, West Virginia (Pitcher)