DALLAS (NCBWA) The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association released its National Player of the Week awards for the period ending May 3. Missouri State junior left-hander Matt Hall was named National Pitcher of the Week, while Morehead State senior DH Clayton Meyer and Nevada junior third baseman Bryce Greager were named National Hitters 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 last week, Meyer hit .600 (12-for-20) with eight runs scored, two doubles, two home runs, 11 RBI, a .619 on-base percentage and 1.000 slugging percentage as Morehead State was 3-1, reached the 30-win plateau for the season and is now just one win away from tying the school record for victories in a season. Having played in just 13 games this season mainly as a pinch hitter entering the week, Meyer raised his batting average from .143 to .412 during the four-game span. He was 4-for-6 with four runs scored, a home run and four RBI in a 20-4 non-conference victory over Northern Kentucky to open the week. Meyer added three hits in the first game of the Eastern Illinois series, was 3-for-5 with a home run and six RBI in the second game against the Panthers and capped the week by going 2-for-4 with three runs scored.
Greager batted .524 and guided nationally-ranked Nevada to an undefeated week, with a two-game non-conference sweep of St. Marys at home and a conference series shutout of New Mexico on the road to clinch the 2015 Mountain West regular-season title. In five starts at third base, Greager batted .524 with 11 hits, 12 RBI, five runs and six extra base hits. He had four doubles, a triple and a home run to post a .962 slugging percentage and a .583 on base percentage. The Fountain Hills, Ariz., native posted a pair of three-hit games in Nevada's two-midweek wins over Saint Mary's. His five RBI in game one against the Gaels set a new career high. Greager went 5-of-12 at the plate with five RBI and four runs scored against New Mexico, leading Nevada to the series sweep.
Hall struck out a career-high 15 batters over a dominant seven-inning performance that propelled the Bears to a 9-1 victory over Wichita State Saturday, paving the way to an MVC series sweep of the Shockers and Missouri States seventh consecutive series win. The junior surrendered a single run on just two singles over his 7.0 frames, recording seven consecutive outs via strikeouts over a three-inning stretch that saw the Bears claim the lead for good. The left-hander, who improved to 7-2 on the year with the victory, recorded multiple strikeouts in five of his seven innings and came within one strikeout of matching Pierce Johnson·s Hammons Field record of 16, set on March 23, 2012 vs. Creighton. In all, Hall·s 15 K·s tied four other Missouri State hurlers for the fourth-best single-game total in school history, just two shy of the Bears· single-game record.
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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)