DALLAS (NCBWA) The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association released the Pro-Line Athletic National Player of the Week awards for the period ending April 17. Oklahoma junior catcher Tyler Ogle was named National Hitter of the Week, while Rice freshman right-hander John Simms 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.
In four games against ranked competition (No. 9 TCU and No. 18 Oklahoma State) last week, Ogle hit .647 (11-for-17) with one double, three homers, eight runs scored and 11 RBIs. He also slugged at a 1.235 clip with a .650 on-base percentage (walk and HBP) and posted a 1.000 fielding percentage behind the plate.
The San Antonio native recorded two four-hit games and three multi-hit contests in four games played last week, tying a career high with four hits in games one and three versus OSU with three RBIs in each game against the Cowboys. He finished with a .714 batting average that included 10 base hits, two homers and nine RBIs in the Bedlam series.
The pair of long balls against OSU marked the first multi-homer game of Ogle's career and the first by a Sooner since Cody Reine had two against then-No. 1 Virginia in the 2010 Charlottesville Super Regional. He entered the weekend with eight games played against OSU, but zero runs driven in.
Simms, a true freshman, started and struck out a career-high 11 batters in the Owls' 2-0 shutout victory over No. 5 Texas A&M on Tuesday, April 12. The Woodlands, Texas, native also worked a career-long 7.2 innings on the way to getting his first collegiate win, allowing just three hits and not walking a batter. The rookie right-hander also came out of the bullpen on Sunday vs. Tulane and posted 1.2 more shutout innings to earn his second career win five days later. In that outing, he struck out two and allowed two hits. For the week he went 2-0, did not allow any runs in 9.1 total innings, scattering five singles and one walk, while holding opposing teams to a composite .156 batting average.
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)