DALLAS (NCBWA) The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association released the Pro-Line Athletic National Player of the Week awards for the period ending May 10.
Missouri junior outfielder Greg Folgia 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.
Folgia hit four home runs, drove in 20 runs and hit .500 in the Tigers' four games last week. He had at least one hit in each contest, along with a slugging percentage of 1.250. In the Kansas series, Folgia recorded a .545 batting average and compiled a 1.365 slugging percentage. Folgia opened the series against KU with his second two-home run shot of the season, including an inside the park homer. He put the Tigers on the board in Friday's series opener with a solo home run in the first inning, then drove in three on the homer in the sixth. Folgia homered for the third-straight game on Saturday, as he hit his team-leading 12th home run of the year. He closed the week going 3-for-5 with two RBI on Sunday against KU. The North Wales, Pa. native also had a pair of hits against Missouri State on Tuesday, including a home run.
Strasburg, who also earned the NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week on March 24, tossed a complete-game no-hitter in a 5-0 victory over Air Force on Friday, May 8, at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The San Diego, Calif., native retired the first nine batters he faced, seven via strikeout, before allowing a leadoff walk in the fourth. That runner was erased when caught trying to steal. The Falcons only other base runner came on another leadoff walk in the sixth, after which Strasburg struck out the side.
Including those three K's he retired the final 12 hitters he faced, striking out the side in the ninth to finish the contest. He finished the fame with 17 strikeouts and faced only 28 batters, one over the minimum. The game was played before a school-record crowd of 3,337 in San Diego.
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)