DALLAS (NCBWA) The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association released the Pro-Line Athletic National Player of the Week awards for the period ending April 24. UCF redshirt sophomore designated hitter D.J. Hicks and Southeast Missouri State redshirt junior third baseman Trenton Moses were named Co-National Hitters of the Week, while UCLA junior right-hander Trevor Bauer 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.
Hicks led UCF to a 4-1 record last week with home wins over Florida Atlantic and No. 5 Florida as well as two victories at Memphis. The designated hitter went 10-for-21 for a .476 average, crushing three homers, driving in 13, adding a pair of doubles and scoring seven runs. The Altamonte Springs, Fla., native finished the week with a 1.000 slugging percentage and a .542 OBP.
Against FAU, he delivered a two-run double in the fourth inning before clubbing a three-run two-bagger in the fifth, and finished with a career-high six RBI in the 12-0 win on April 19. One day later, Hicks crushed a solo homer in the seventh inning to enable the Knights to topple No. 5 Florida 8-6. And in the three-game series at Memphis, he had two singles including a 10th inning base hit that led to UCF's 5-4 game-one win, demolished a grand slam in the seventh inning of game two to erase an 8-7 deficit in an 11-9 victory and was 2-for-3 with a home run in the finale with the Tigers.
Moses hit .778 (7-for-9) with six runs scored, a double, four home runs and 11 RBIs in three Southeast Missouri State games last week. Moses had a 2.222 slugging percentage and a .833 on-base percentage, as he reached base in 10-of-12 total plate appearances. The Advance, Mo., native began the week by going 3-for-4 with three runs scored, two home runs, a walk and six RBIs in a 13-7 victory over Arkansas State. In the first game of Saturday's doubleheader with Jacksonville State, Moses was 2-for-2 with two runs scored, a home run, two walks and three RBIs in a 9-8 Redhawk victory. He finished out the twin bill by going 2-for-3 with a run, double, home run and two RBIs. For the week his 11 RBIs were almost half the total of the entire Redhawk team (23).
Bauer earns his second NCBWA national award this season. He threw his third consecutive complete game, tying his career high with 17 strikeouts in UCLA's 4-1 win over Stanford on Friday. The Valencia, Calif., native allowed one run and four hits while pushing his nation-leading strikeout total to 127. Bauer has logged at least 10 strikeouts in nine of his 10 starts this season. He continues push his UCLA career strikeout total to 384. Bauer leads all Pac-10 pitchers in strikeouts, wins (8) and innings (82.2).
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)