DALLAS (NCBWA) The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association released its National Player of the Week awards for the period ending April 5. Tennessee junior outfielder Christin Stewart was named National Hitter of the Week, while The Citadel junior left-handed pitcher James Reeves 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.
Stewart hit .500 (7-for-14) with one triple, three home runs, six runs scored and a team-leading 10 RBI over four games last week. The Lawrenceville, Ga., native recorded 18 total bases during Tennessee's road trip visiting Arkansas State (April 1) and Ole Miss (April 3-5), while he also led UT's squad with a 1.286 slugging percentage and .632 on-base percentage.
On Wednesday, April 1, Stewart hit two home runs at Arkansas State, lifting Tennessee to a 7-4 win. By doing so, Stewart became the first Tennessee player to hit two home runs in a game since Ethan Bennett accomplished it against Alabama A&M on March 15, 2011. Over three games against the Ole Miss Rebels from Friday, April 3 - Sunday, April 5, Stewart went 5-for-11 (.455) with one triple, one homer and five RBIs.
Reeves threw the first no-hitter by a Bulldog in 13 years, while recording 14 strikeouts for the second time this season, one shy of his career best, set against Davidson in 2014. The Summerville, S.C., native allowed only three Bears to reach scoring position, with one of those coming on a two-base error, and no more than one runner in any inning.
He struck out at least one batter in every inning including the side in the third and had two in the ninth before getting a foul out to wrap up the first Bulldog no-hitter since T.A. Fulmer did so against East Tennessee State in March 2002. It was the sixth no-no in recorded Citadel history.
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)