DALLAS (NCBWA) The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association released the Pro-Line Athletic National Player of the Week awards for the period ending April 4. Georgia Southern sophomore outfielder Victor Roache was named National Hitter of the Week, while Virginia junior right-hander Will Roberts 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.
Roache had a monster week at the plate for Georgia Southern, blasting six home runs in four games, to lead the Eagles to a Southern Conference series sweep over The Citadel. The Ypsilanti, Mich., native had a homer in the midweek game against Jacksonville but saved the bulk of his work for the weekend. On Saturday, he had three, two-run homers and drove in six runs as GSU downed The Citadel, 15-2. In Sunday's series finale, he continued to swing a hot bat, drilling a three-run shot in the fifth and a two-run homer in the seventh as the Eagles rallied from a four-run deficit to sweep the series, 11-9.
In total, Roache was 11-for-18 (.611) at the plate with six home runs, 13 runs batted in and 10 runs scored with a 1.667 slugging percentage.
Roberts pitched a perfect game in the Cavaliers' 2-0 shutout of visiting George Washington on March 29. Roberts tossed the second perfect game in ACC history and the eighth perfect game in NCAA Division I baseball (since 1957). The Richmond, Va., junior joined Maryland's Dick Reitz (vs. Johns Hopkins, 1957) as the lone ACC pitchers to throw perfect games.
Roberts is the first Division I pitcher to record a perfect game since Auburn's Eric Brandon against Murray State on March 2, 2002. Roberts struck out 10, tying a career high. He also recorded 14 groundouts and three flyouts as only one ball left the infield. Roberts needed just 98 pitches to finish off his perfect game.
Pro-Line Athletic, owned by Badger Sport, supplies the cap and uniforms to several Division I college teams. This is the seventh 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 or Badger Sports, visit their Web sites at prolineathletic.com and badgersport.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.
2011 Pro-Line Athletic Players of the Week:
Feb. 22: David Herbek, James Madison (Hitter);
Taylor Jungmann, Texas (Pitcher)
· March 1: Corben Green, ULM (Hitter); Danny Hultzen,
Virginia (Pitcher)
· March 8: Anthony Trajano, Cal State Fullerton
(Hitter); Kyle Fitzpatrick, FIU (Pitcher)
· March 15: Dusty Quattlebaum, Gardner-Webb (Hitter);
Logan Verrett, Baylor (Pitcher)
· March 22: Saxon Butler, Samford (Hitter); Frankie
Vanderka, Stony Brook (Pitcher)
· March 29: Colin Moran, North Carolina (Hitter);
Trevor Bauer, UCLA (Pitcher)
· April 5: Victor Roache, Georgia Southern (Hitter);
Will Roberts, Virginia (Pitcher)
· April 12: Brad Miller, Clemson and Doug Bream,
Liberty (Hitter); Jeremy Gonzales, Northern Illinois (Pitcher)
· April 19: Tyler Ogle, Oklahoma (Hitter); John
Simms, Rice (Pitcher)
· April 26: D.J. Hicks, UCF and Trenton Moses, Southeast
Missouri State (Hitter); Trevor Bauer, UCLA (Pitcher)
· May 3: James Brooks, Utah and Clint Moore, Army
(Hitter); Josh Osich, Oregon State (Pitcher)
· May 10: Jeff Holm, Michigan State (Hitter); Alex
Meyer, Kentucky and Carson Smith, Texas State (Pitcher)
· May 17: Paul Karmas, St. John's (Hitter); Mike
Strong, Oklahoma State (Pitcher)
· May 24: Ryan Huston, UTSA and Ryan Wright, Louisville
(Hitter); Mike McCarthy, Cal State Bakersfield (Pitcher)