DALLAS (NCBWA) The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association released the Pro-Line Athletic National Player of the Week awards for the period ending April 19.
Minnesota's junior second baseman Derek McCallum was named National Hitter of the Week, while North Carolina junior right-handed pitcher Alex White 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.
McCallum was nearly unstoppable at the plate last week, combining to post a .636 average with a .680 on-base percentage and a 1.636 slugging mark over five games. In a pair of mid-week match-ups against UW-Milwaukee and South Dakota State, the junior went 3-for-4 in each contest with a combined five runs, 12 RBIs and three home runs. His 12-RBI total marked the highest for a Golden Gopher in a two-game stretch since at least 1997, and his three homers over two games is a program best since 2004.
Tacking on a home run in game 1 of Minnesota's series with Illinois, the Shoreview, Minn., native became the first Minnesota player to go deep in three-straight games since 2004. In the series finale with Illinois, McCallum had his second two-homer game of the week, going long twice in a 2-for-5 performance with two runs scored and four RBI. For the week, he totaled nine extra-base hits with six homers, two doubles and a triple, and 20 RBIs for an OPS of 2.316. His efforts increased his season batting average by 43 points, giving him a conference-leading mark of .404, his slugging percentage by 171 points, placing him second in the conference at .709, and his RBI total to a Big Ten-leading 52. The weekly honor is the first of McCallum's career and the second for a Minnesota hitter this season.
White dominated No. 7 Miami in a complete-game, one-hit shutout in Friday's series opener, a 3-0 win for the Tar Heels. The Greenville, N.C., All-American faced only 28 batters just one over the minimum · and struck out a season-best 10 en route to his first career complete-game shutout.
White allowed just a third-inning single and a walk in the eighth for only two base runners all night. In between, he retired 14 straight Hurricanes. White closed his second career complete game by striking out the side to nail down Carolina's first one-hitter since 1994 and its first complete game shutout since 2007.
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)