DALLAS (NCBWA) The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association released its National Player of the Week awards for the period ending May 17. Murray State sophomore catcher Tyler Lawrence was named National Hitter of the Week, while UCLA junior right-handed pitcher James Kaprielian 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.
Lawrence tied the OVC record with four home runs in a game in Murray States 27-7 victory at Morehead State on Friday. The Collierville, Tenn., native went 5-for-5 with five runs scored and 11 RBI (one off the OVC record) in the victory. Lawrence hit a two-run home run in the first inning, added a two-run blast to dead center in the second, connected on a three-run home run in the fifth and added a two-run long ball in eighth inning. He also added an RBI single in the third inning and a sacrifice fly in the seventh. For the week Lawrence hit .500 (9-for-18) with a 1.222 slugging percentage and .524 on-base percentage, while extended his hitting streak to a season-high 16 games.
Kaprielian combined with David Berg to throw UCLAs first ever no-hitter on Friday night in a 1-0 shutout of Arizona in 10 innings. The Tustin, Calif. native pitched nine no-hit innings, recording a season-high tying 11 strikeouts and four walks, while totaling 113 pitches. The Pac-12·s strikeout leader struck out six batters over a stretch from the third to the seventh inning where he retired 14 consecutive Wildcats. Kaprielian has thrown 23.2 consecutive scoreless innings, not allowing a run in his last three starts. He also dropped his season ERA below two, to 1.94, and pushed his strikeout total to 105 for the season, the second consecutive season over 100 strikeouts for him.
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)