DALLAS (NCBWA) The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association released the Pro-Line Athletic National Player of the Week awards for the period ending March 22.
East Carolina junior designated hitter Kyle Roller was named National Hitter of the Week, while San Diego State's junior right-handed pitcher Stephen Strasburg 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.
Roller helped the Pirates to a perfect 5-0 week including a league-opening series sweep of UCF. He batted .591 (13-for-22) on the week with four home runs, 15 RBI, two walks, one strikeout and five HBPs. Roller hit three home runs in league play against the Knights, including two in the weekend opener on Friday night. The Rockingham, N.C., native scored 11 runs on the week and tied his career-high with four runs against UCF on Friday. Roller also recorded a career-high five hits (5-for-6) with two HRs and 5 RBI in that Friday contest. On the week, he posted four multi-hit and multi-RBI games, while hitting safely in all five outings. Roller helped ECU establish school and conference records for runs scored in consecutive games (52, with 26 each against Norfolk State and UCF) and ECU records for five-game scoring (90) and five-game hitting (98).
Strasburg went seven full innings in a start against Brigham Young on Friday, fanning 15. He struck out the side in the first and retired the first nine hitters he faced (with seven strikeouts). He also struck out the side in two other innings. The biggest threat he faced came in the sixth when BYU put runners on first and third (walk, single) with one out. Strasburg proceeded to strike out the next two batters to end the threat. On the night he allowed two hits (both singles) as he held BYU to a .087 batting average. The Cougars had come into the contest hitting .305 as a team. Strasburg left the game after seven innings with a 2-0 lead, but the bullpen was unable to hold the lead as SDSU lost, 4-2. Strasburg is averaging 19.4 strikeouts per nine innings. The NCAA record for a season is 16.8 strikeouts per nine 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)