DALLAS (NCBWA) The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) released its National Player of the Week awards for the period ending April 14. Oregon junior shortstop Spencer Steer was named National Hitter of the Week, while Pacific junior right-handed pitcher Ryan Shreve and Saint Louis redshirt junior right-handed pitcher Cody Luther were named Co-National Pitchers of the Week. The NCBWA Board reviews candidates from each Division I Conference each week and names winners each Tuesday throughout the season.
Steer batted .474 (9-for-19) with three home runs, 12 RBI and six runs scored, leading Oregon to a 3-1 record with a road win against the nationally-ranked Oregon State and a series win at WSU. Two of Steer's three home runs were grand slams, including a two-out, game-tying shot in the top of the ninth inning on Sunday. It was the Long Beach, California natives second home run of the day, marking the second time this season he has hit a pair of homers in the same game.
Steer's first grand slam came in an 11-8 win in game two of the Washington State series. He went 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored in a 21-3 win in the series opener with the Cougars. Against WSU, Steer batted .500 (7-for-14) with three homers, 11 RBI and five runs scored. He slugged 1.143 and reached base at a .563 clip. In Oregon's 12-8 win over No. 7 Oregon State last Tuesday, Steer delivered a two-out RBI single in the Ducks' four-run eighth inning that broke an 8-8 tie. He also extended his hitting streak to 14 with hits in all four games last week.
Shreve etched his name into the history books at Pacific with the fourth no-hitter in school baseball history on Sunday at Santa Clara. The Sherman Oaks, California native faced 28 batters and retired 27 only allowing a runner to reach base with a hit-by-pitch. Shreve struck out nine, a new career high for strikeouts in a game. Following the hit-by-pitch in the bottom of the fourth inning, he retired 16-straight batters on his way to the no-no. Shreve threw 109 pitches, 78 of which went for strikes.
It was the first no-hitter for Pacific since D.J. Houlton's in 2001. His masterful work on the mound earned the Tigers a series sweep and notched him his third complete game of the season.
Luther threw the first nine-inning no-hitter at Saint Louis since 1961 in last Saturday's win over St. Bonaventure. A right-hander from Discovery Bay, Calif., he had a career-high 11 strikeouts, and of the 29 batters faced, only two reached base (both via walk). One of those baserunners was erased on a double play in the next at bat. Luther also did not hit a batter and had no wild pitches in the dazzling performance.
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 website, 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.
2019 NCBWA Division I Players of the Week:
Week ending Feb. 17: Austin Martin, Vanderbilt (Hitter); Grant Judkins, Iowa (Pitcher)
· Week ending Feb. 24: Thomas Dillard, Ole Miss (Hitter); Tommy Henry, Michigan (Pitcher)
· Week ending March 3: Harrison Freed, Butler and TJ Hopkins, South Carolina (Hitter); Tanner Burns, Auburn (Pitcher)
· Week ending March 10: Cameron Warren, Texas Tech (Hitter); Jake Kuchmaner, East Carolina and Chris Gerard, Virginia Tech (Pitcher)
· Week ending March 17: Chris Lanzilli, Wake Forest (Hitter); Jake Kuchmaner, East Carolina (Pitcher)
· Week ending March 24: Tristan Peterson, New Mexico State (Hitter); Connor Thomas, Georgia Tech (Pitcher)
· Week ending March 31: Jake Sanford, WKU (Hitter); Zach Thompson, Kentucky (Pitcher)
· Week ending April 7: Kody Hoese, Tulane (Hitter); Alek Manoah, West Virginia (Pitcher)
· Week ending April 14: Spencer Steer, Oregon (Hitter); Cody Luther, Saint Louis and Ryan Shreve, Pacific (Pitcher)
· Week ending April 21: Logan Wyatt, Louisville (Hitter); Alek Manoah, West Virginia (Pitcher)
· Week ending April 28: Keaton Smith, Nevada (Hitter); Ryan Garcia, UCLA (Pitcher)
· Week ending May 5: Chase Smartt, Troy (Hitter); Andy Fisher, Illinois (Pitcher)
· Week ending May 12: Bryce Ball, Dallas Baptist (Hitter); Micah Kaczor, East Tennessee State (Pitcher)
· Week ending May 19: Andrew Daschbach, Stanford (Hitter); Seth Lonsway, Ohio State (Pitcher)
2019 NCBWA Division I Players of the Month:
February: Nick Gonzales, New Mexico State (Player); John Doxakis, Texas A&M (Pitcher)
· March: Hunter Bishop, Arizona State (Player); Reid Detmers, Louisville (Pitcher)
· April: Adley Rutschman, Oregon State (Player); Alek Manoah, West Virginia (Pitcher)