DALLAS (NCBWA) The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association released its National Player of the Week awards for the period ending April 12. Florida freshman catcher/designated hitter JJ Schwarz was named National Hitter of the Week, while Connecticut sophomore left-handed pitcher Anthony Kay 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.
Schwarz batted .529 (9-for-17) with 15 RBI, 12 runs scored and seven home runs as Florida captured all four games last week, including a sweep of No. 21 South Carolina. His seven-homer barrage surpassed the six homers Taylor Gushue had in 63 games last year to lead the Gators.
All nine of his hits went for extra-bases (seven homers, two doubles) and he recorded a slugging percentage of 1.882. The Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., native belted a school-record four homers against Stetson, tying the SECs single-game mark set in 1982 by Kentucky·s Bill Sandry, and established a UF single-game mark with 18 total bases.
He went 5-for-6 against the Hatters and totaled a career-high 10 RBI, second-most ever by a Gator, with a two-run homer in the second inning, a two-run blast in the third inning, a three-run jack in the fourth, a solo big fly in the seventh and a two-run double in the eighth.
Against South Carolina, Schwarz hit .364 (4-for-11) with a team-high seven runs, five RBI and three homers during the three wins over the Gamecocks. He completed the weekend by going 3-for-4 with three RBI and a pair of round-trippers, a solo shot in the fourth and a two-run dinger in the eighth. He started the series with USC with a run-scoring double in the fifth and a leadoff homer in the seventh.
Kay went the distance and allowed only an unearned run to pick up the win in a 15-1 decision over No. 12 UCF on Saturday afternoon. The victory helped the Huskies clinch their first conference series over a ranked opponent since 2011 and gave them a pair of series victories over ranked squads this year.
In his stellar outing, the Stony Brook, N.Y., native allowed only five hits to a potent UCF offense that came into the weekend ranked first in the American Conference and Top 10 nationally in nearly every offensive category. The southpaw struck out nine and did not walk a batter.
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)