DALLAS (NCBWA) The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association released its National Player of the Week awards for the period ending March 26. Indiana sophomore infielder Matt Lloyd was named National Hitter of the Week, while Loyola Marymount junior right-handed pitcher Cory Abbott 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.
Lloyd hit .643 on the week with nine hits, four home runs, two doubles, 10 RBI and six runs scored. Lloyd also made three relief appearances, striking out four, while tallying two saves. The Okotoks, Alberta, Canada, native tallied two, four-hit games in the series sweep at Northwestern. Lloyd collected three home runs in game one of the series on Friday, marking the first time a Hoosier has accomplished the feat since Josh Phegley in 2009. He went 4-for-5 in that first game with the three home runs, five RBI and three runs scored. He hit his fourth home run of the day in the second game of the Friday doubleheader. Lloyd capped off the series sweep with a 4-for-5 effort on Sunday, hitting two doubles, driving in two runs and scoring twice. He also picked up the save in that contest and his second save came in midweek action against Cincinnati.
Abbott threw the first perfect game in LMU and West Coast Conference history on Saturday afternoon, proving perfect in a 2-0 LMU victory over BYU. The San Diego, Calif., native struck out a career-high 13 hitters and used 106 pitches to dispatch of the Cougars. The perfect game was the first at the Division I level this year, and was the 26th since 1957. Abbott sealed the perfect game with a strikeout of pinch hitter Tanner Chauncey, striking Chauncey out on a 3-2 pitch. Abbott found himself in only four three-ball counts all day, and had only one real scare on a hard hit ball, with Niko Decolati diving forward to steal a potential hit from shortstop Daniel Schneemann with one out in the seventh. LMU had thrown two previous no-hitters, including current volunteer assistant Matt Florer's hitter against Cal State Northridge on April 23, 2013.
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.
2017 NCBWA Division I Players of the Week:
Feb. 21: Andrew Kendrick, Youngstown State (Hitter);
Jared Poché, LSU and Robbie Welhaf, Elon (Pitcher)
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Feb. 28: Brent Rooker, Mississippi State (Hitter);
Justin Dillon, Sacramento State (Pitcher)
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March 7: Chase Lunceford, Louisiana Tech (Hitter);
Danny Hrbek, Radford and Parker Rigler, Kansas State (Pitcher)
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March 14: Connor Smith, Western Michigan (Hitter);
Eli Morgan, Gonzaga (Pitcher)
· March 21:
Jake Scheiner, Houston (Hitter); John Gavin, Cal State Fullerton (Pitcher)
· March 28: Matt Lloyd, Indiana (Hitter); Cory Abbott,
Loyola Marymount (Pitcher)
· April 4: Keaton
Kringlen, BYU (Hitter); Alex Cunningham, Coastal Carolina (Pitcher)
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April 11: Brent Rooker, Mississippi State (Hitter);
Michael Grove, West Virginia (Pitcher)
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April 18: Stuart Fairchild, Wake Forest (Hitter); Kyle Wright, Vanderbilt (Pitcher)
· April 25: Dylan Busby, Florida State (Hitter);
Alex Faedo, Florida (Pitcher)
· May 2: Hunter
Hargrove, Texas Tech (Hitter); David Peterson, Oregon (Pitcher)
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May 9: Dan Kerwin, UT Martin (Hitter); Trevor Stephan,
Arkansas (Pitcher)
· May 16: Jared Barnes,
South Alabama (Hitter); Zach Prendergast, Seton Hall (Pitcher)
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May 23: Kevin Milam, St. Mary's (Hitter); Cole Bartlett,
Missouri (Pitcher)
2017 NCBWA Division I Players of the Month:
February: Brendon McKay, Lousiville (Hitter); James
Poché, LSU (Pitcher)
· March: Brent
Rooker, Mississippi State (Hitter); David Peterson, Oregon (Pitcher)
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April: Drew Ellis, Louisville (Hitter); Jake Thompson,
Oregon State (Pitcher)
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May: Chris Carrier, Memphis (Hitter); Trey Cumbie,
Houston (Pitcher)