DALLAS (NCBWA) The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association released its National Player of the Week awards for the period ending March 15. Miami junior third baseman David Thompson was named National Hitter of the Week, while Tennessee Tech senior right-handed pitcher Chris Chism 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.
Thompson powered Miami to a perfect 5-0 week, connecting for three home runs and 13 RBI while leading the team with a .524 batting average (11-for-21). He scored five runs over the course of the weekend against NC State, including a walk-off home run in extra innings on Friday night that keyed the Hurricanes to a three-game sweep of the ACC series. Thompson also homered and drove in a pair of runs in a 6-0 win on Sunday and closed with five RBIs in the three games against the Wolfpack.
Earlier in the week, Thompson delivered a career night at Florida Gulf Coast, when he registered career-high totals of four hits and six RBIs in last Tuesdays 15-4 Hurricanes· win. The Miami, Fla. native went 3-for-3 with two RBIs in a 7-0 shutout of Stetson on Wednesday night.
Chism struck out 17 batters and allowed just one hit in a 2-0 shutout victory over UT Martin on Saturday night. The Tampa, Fla., native allowed a leadoff single up the middle to the first batter of the game and then retired the next 23 batters he faced before walking his only batter of the night with two outs in the eighth inning.
Chism would hit a batter and his defense would commit an error in the ninth, but he struck out the side to earn the victory and improve to 3-0 on the season. The 17 strikeouts are the most by a Tennessee Tech player in nearly 30 years and four shy of the OVC record. Overall, Chism set down 10 batters with swinging strikeouts and seven looking and threw 123 total pitches on the night.
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 NCBWA Division I National Players of the Week, contact NCBWA Assistant Executive Director Mike Montoro at West Virginia University at 304-293-2821.
2015 NCBWA Division I Players of the Week:
Feb. 15: Eric Gutierrez, Texas Tech (Hitter); Luke Gillingham, Navy (Pitcher)
· Feb. 22: KJ Harrison, Oregon State (Hitter); Preston Morrison, TCU (Pitcher)
· March 1: Braden Bishop, Washington (Hitter); Alex Robinett, Army (Pitcher)
· March 8: Dante Flores, USC (Hitter); Carson Cross, Connecticut (Pitcher)
· March 15: David Thompson, Miami (Hitter); Chris Chism, Tennessee Tech (Pitcher)
· March 22: DJ Stewart, Florida State (Hitter); Drew Rasmussen, Oregon State (Pitcher)
· March 29: Chris Shaw, Boston College (Hitter); James McMahon, Southern Miss (Pitcher)
· April 5: Christin Stewart, Tennessee (Hitter); James Reeves, The Citadel (Pitcher)
· April 12: JJ Schwarz, Florida (Hitter); Anthony Kay, Connecticut (Pitcher)
· April 26: Kevin Kaczmarski, Evansville (Hitter); Kevin Hill, South Alabama (Pitcher)
· May 5: Clayton Meyer, Morehead State and Bryce Greager, Nevada (Hitter); Matt Hall, Missouri State (Pitcher)
· May 12: Jeff Boehm, UIC (Hitter); Thomas Eshelman, Cal State Fullerton (Pitcher)
· May 19: Tyler Lawrence, Murray State (Hitter); James Kaprielian, UCLA (Pitcher)