DALLAS (NCBWA) The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association released the Pro-Line Athletic National Player of the Week awards for the period ending March 1.
Alabama senior outfielder Kent Matthes was named National Hitter of the Week, while Rice junior right-hander Ryan Berry and Texas sophomore right-hander Brandon Workman 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.
Matthes, a senior right fielder from Orlando, Fla., hit for the cycle in one game, had two game-winning RBI, including a walk-off 10th-inning blast, and tied the school record with a home run in five straight games, as Alabama posted a 4-0 record last week. In his last five games, over the last seven calendar days, Matthes was 11-for-20 (.500) with six home runs, 15 RBIs and a whopping 1.650 slugging mark. He has also added 11 runs, two doubles and one triple in the last seven days. He had a two home run game against Southeast Missouri State on Sunday, Feb. 22.
Rice junior right-hander Ryan Berry held a Texas A&M team that was ranked as high as No. 1 in the country to just two hits and no runs in a complete game shutout victory in Saturday's action (Feb. 28) at the Houston College Classic held downtown at hitter-friendly Minute Maid Park, home of the Houston Astros. Berry struck out a season-high 12 batters without allowing any walks. In a closer look at his gem, the native of Humble, Texas, had six three-up, three-down innings, never faced more than four batters in any inning, had three innings where he threw single digit pitch totals and A&M batters started an inning by swinging at the first pitch and getting out three times. Berry was named the Most Outstanding Player in the 2009 tournament.
Workman allowed just two walks and one player to reach base on an error, facing the minimum 27 batters to record the 21st no-hitter in UT history. Three players reached base, with Workman issuing two walks and one batter reaching on an error, but a double play ground out and two faulty stolen base attempts erased them from the books. The Bowie, Texas, hurler fanned 10 Penn State batters, one shy of his career high. On the season, Workman has yet to give up a run and has only surrendered two hits and two walks over 16 innings.
Fort Worth-based Pro-Line Athletic supplies the official cap to more than 100 Division I college teams and official uniforms and team wear to six Division I college teams. This is the fifth season Pro-Line has sponsored the NCBWA's Players of the Week. The sponsorship provides for plaques to be awarded to each of the weekly winners and other promotional consideration. For more information about Pro-Line, visit their Web site at prolineathletic.com.
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 Pro-Line Athletic Players of the Week, contact NCBWA Assistant Executive Director Mike Montoro at West Virginia University at 304-293-2821.
2009 Pro-Line Athletic Players of the Week:
Feb. 24: Chris Kersten, Louisiana Tech (Hitter);
Schaeffer Hall, Kansas (Pitcher)
· March 3: Kent Matthes, Alabama (Hitter); Ryan
Berry, Rice and Brandon Workman, Texas (Pitcher)
· March 10: Daniel Hill, Murray State (Hitter);
Wade Kapteyn, Evansille (Pitcher)
· March 17: Digger Towe, UAB (Hitter); Kyle Gibson,
Missouri (Pitcher)
· March 24: Kyle Roller, East Carolina (Hitter);
Stephen Strasburg, San Diego State (Pitcher)
· March 31: Rich Poythress, Georgia (Hitter); Cody
Wheeler, Coastal Carolina (Pitcher)
· April 7: Brett Nommensen, Eastern Illinois (Hitter);
Nolan Moody, Michigan State (Pitcher)
· April 14: Juan Martinez, Oral Roberts (Hitter);
Brad Stillings, Kent State (Pitcher)
· April 21: Derek McCallum, Minnesota (Hitter);
Alex White, North Carolina (Pitcher)
· April 28: Shane Brown, UCF and Jesse Sawyer, South
Dakota State (Hitter); J.T. Ross, Northeastern (Pitcher)
· May 5: Justin Bour, George Mason (Hitter); Alex
Wimmers, Ohio State (Pitcher)
· May 12: Greg Folgia, Missouri (Hitter); Stephen
Strasburg, San Diego State (Pitcher)
· May 19: Chris Hermann, Miami (Hitter); Justin
Marks, Louisville (Pitcher)