DALLAS (NCBWA) A four-home run week, a no-hitter, and an 11-RBI week took home the week five NCAA Div. III National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association honors. This week's honorees were recognized for performances spanning March 22-28.
Hitter of the Week: Wittenberg University senior designated hitter Jack Hollinshead powered the Tigers to a 2-1 week with wins over NCAA Div. II Cedarville University and Case Western Reserve University. The senior collected multiple hits in each of Wittenberg's three contests, including a 4-for-6 game against the Spartans, which was highlighted by a three-homer performance. On the week, Hollinshead batted at a .615 clip (8-for-13) with four home runs, seven runs scored, and six RBI. Hollinshead is currently tops in Div. III with 10 round-trippers.
Honorable Mention Hitter: Garrett Callaghan, Sr., OF, Ithaca College Went 7-for-13 (.538) over three games last week with three home runs, nine RBI, four runs scored, two doubles, one triple, and two walks. Callaghan began the week with a 1-for-4 afternoon against Alfred State College, with his one hit coming as a game-winning solo home run. Callaghan opened a weekend doubleheader against the University of Rochester with a 2-for-5 afternoon with five RBI, a double, and home run. Callaghan concluded the week by hitting for the cycle against Rochester and added three more RBI.
Pitcher of the Week: St. Olaf College's Sam Westermeyer threw the program's first no-hitter in nearly 22 years in the Oles' 6-0 win over Augsburg University in the opener of a doubleheader sweep on Monday evening. The junior struck out seven in the seven-inning no-hitter while allowing just one walk and a pair of hit batters. The no-hitter was the first by an Ole since Charlie Brookins no-hit Macalester College on April 17, 1999. Westermeyer's no-hitter was the fifth in Div. III this spring.
Honorable Mention Pitcher: Matt O'Sullivan, Sr., University of Wisconsin-Whitewater - Tallied 17 strikeouts, tied for the second-most in one game in UW-Whitewater history, and retired the first 13 hitters of the game via strikeout during the Warhawks' 10-0 seven-inning victory over Finlandia University on Friday at Prucha Field at Miller Stadium. O'Sullivan allowed only one hit in the contest, was perfect through 6 1/3 innings, and faced the minimum number of batters after UW-Whitewater turned a double play to end the seventh. He did not allow a ball in play until there was one out in the top of the fifth inning.
Rookie of the Week: University of Southern Maine freshman designated hitter Cam Seymour was named Little East Conference Rookie of the Week after batting .588 (10-for-17) and slugging 1.235 in a 3-1 week for the eighth-ranked Huskies, during which he totaled five extra-base hits, 11 RBI, and six runs scored. He was 4-for-5 with three homers, one double, eight RBI, and three runs scored in Southern Maine's 13-8 game-one win at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Thursday. He went 4-for-8 with a double, three runs scored, and one driven in as the Huskies swept a non-conference twin bill from the Corsairs Saturday. The rookie's 14 total bases in the UMass Dartmouth opener set a program record. He is the fifth player to homer three times in a game in program history.
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2021 NCBWA Division III Players of the Week:
Week ending March 7: Caleb Durbin, Washington U. (Hitter); Patrick O'Rourke, Berry (Pitcher); Amani Jones, Stevenson (Rookie)
· Week ending March 14: Philip Mahlik, Kean (Hitter); Ryan Behling, North Central (Pitcher); Jacob Cyrus, Illinois Wesleyan (Rookie)
· Week ending March 21: Dane Pedersen, Louisiana College (Hitter); Thomas Gallant, Mount Union (Pitcher); Nolan Sparks, Rochester (Rookie)
· Week ending March 28: Jack Hollinshead, Wittenberg (Hitter); Sam Westermeyer, St. Olaf (Pitcher); Cam Seymour, Southern Maine (Rookie)
· Week ending April 4: Catcher Cumming, Penn State Altoona (Hitter); Chris Chiriboga, St. Thomas (Pitcher); Jake Freed, Oberlin (Rookie)
· Week ending April 11: Adam Zebrowski, St. John Fisher (Hitter); Nolan Rowan, Kean (Pitcher); Amani Jones, Stevenson (Rookie)
· Week ending April 18: Dougie DelaCruz, Mitchell (Hitter); Michael Vallone, DePauw (Pitcher); Owen Robbins, Mitchell (Rookie)
· Week ending April 25: Daniel Coleman, SUNY-Cortland (Hitter); Brock Weirather, Grinnell (Pitcher); James Ward Jr., St. John Fisher (Rookie)
· Week ending May 2: Jake Reinhardt, North Park (Hitter); Weston Lombard, Gustavus Adolphus (Pitcher); Jake Hillard, Penn State Altoona (Rookie)
· Week ending May 9: Adam Zebrowski, St. John Fisher (Hitter); James Palmer, Wisconsin-Stout (Pitcher); James Murphy, Adam Zebrowski (Rookie)
2021 NCBWA Division III Players of the Month:
February: Ty Morgan, Louisiana College (Hitter); Brett Sanchez, Belhaven (Pitcher); Levi Cloud, Berry (Rookie)