DALLAS (NCBWA) The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association released its National Player of the Week awards for the period ending May 10. Cal State Fullerton junior right-hander Thomas Eshelman was named National Pitcher of the Week, while UIC senior outfielder Jeff Boehm was named National Hitter of the Week. The NCBWA Board reviews candidates from each Division I Conference each week and names winners each Tuesday throughout the season.
The Titans Friday night ace was marvelous in the team's 3-0 victory over nationally-ranked UC Santa Barbara on May 8. Eshelman tossed eight scoreless innings and scattered three hits. He walked one, his first free pass in conference play, and struck out nine batters en route to earning his sixth victory of the season. Eshelman retired the last 10 batters he faced. He currently leads the Big West with 95 strikeouts and ranks third with a 1.78 ERA.
Boehm belted six home runs in four games last week, hitting at least one round-tripper in each outing. Boehm's stat line also included 12 RBI, 12 runs scored, 33 total bases and a slugging percentage of 2.063. The senior slugger guided UIC to four straight wins last week, commencing with a 7-0 victory on Tuesday at home against Big Ten-member Michigan. Over the weekend, Boehm and the Flames swept Horizon League-foe Oakland in a road series, as Boehm went 8-for-12 from the dish with five homers, 10 RBI, nine runs, two doubles and 25 total bases.
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)