DALLAS (NCBWA) The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) released its National Player of the Week awards for the period ending March 21. Florida State sophomore outfielder Robby Martin was named National Hitter of the Week, while Vanderbilt sophomore right-handed pitcher Jack Leiter 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.
Martin hit .550 and slugged 1.150 for the week with three home runs, three doubles and 12 RBI as Florida State swept four games versus Top-10 in-state rivals Florida and Miami. In addition to going 11-for-20 at the plate, Martin scored nine runs.
Martin homered twice and drove in five runs in last Tuesday nights win over the fifth-ranked Gators. In the Seminoles· ACC series road sweep at Miami, the Tampa, Florida, native was 8-for-15 with three doubles and a home run as FSU outscored the Hurricanes by a combined 34-2 in the three games.
Making his first career SEC start this weekend, Leiter pitched a no-hitter against No. 16 South Carolina on Saturday. The no-hit performance marked the first regular-season nine-inning no-hit outing in program history since 1971, and first in a SEC conference game since 2016.
After walking the first batter of the game on a full count, the Summit, New Jersey native went on to retire 27 batters in a row. He racked up a career-high 16 strikeouts across a career-long 9.0 innings, greatly surpassing his previous career-long of 5.0 frames.
Leiter recorded multiple strikeouts in seven of his nine innings of work, including striking out the side in the second inning. He threw strikes on 81 of his 124 pitches, including first-pitch strikes to his final seven batters faced. He picked up his fifth win of the season to move to 5-0 on the campaign, and helped the Commodores claim the series victory against the Gamecocks.
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, 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.
2021 NCBWA Division I Players of the Week:
Week ending Feb. 22: Blayne Jones, Dallas Baptist (Hitter); Jordan Wicks, Kansas State (Pitcher)
· Week ending Feb. 28: Dominic Keegan, Vanderbilt (Hitter); Will Dion, McNeese State (Pitcher)
· Week ending March 7: Kenyon Yovan, Oregon (Hitter); Ty Madden, Texas (Pitcher)
· Week ending March 14: Cade Doughty, LSU (Hitter); Jarrett Whorff, Louisiana Tech (Pitcher)
· Week ending March 21: Robby Martin, Florida State (Hitter); Jack Leiter, Vanderbilt (Pitcher)
· Week ending March 28: Caden Grice, Clemson (Hitter); Chayce McDermott, Ball State (Pitcher)
· Week ending April 4: Adrian Del Castillo, Miami (Hitter); Seth Lonsway, Ohio State (Pitcher)
· Week ending April 11: Ivan Melendez, Texas (Hitter); Jonathan Cannon, Georgia (Pitcher)
· Week ending April 18: Aaron Beck, Indiana State (Hitter); Alek Jacob, Gonzaga (Pitcher)
· Week ending April 25: T.J. Collett, Kentucky (Hitter); Landen Bourassa, San Francisco (Pitcher)
· Week ending May 2: Dustin Demeter, Hawaii (Hitter); Tyler Burnham, Seton Hall (Pitcher)
· Week ending May 9: Will Frizzell, Texas A&M (Hitter); Justin Campbell, Oklahoma State (Pitcher)
· Week ending May 16: Ethan Long, Arizona State (Hitter); Andrew Abbott, Virginia (Pitcher)
· Week ending May 23: Cody Littlejohn, Tennessee Tech (Hitter); Cooper Hjerpe, Oregon State (Pitcher)
2021 NCBWA Division I Players of the Month:
February: Wes Clarke, South Carolina (Player); Carson Whisenhunt, East Carolina (Pitcher)
· March: Tim Elko, Ole Miss (Player); Jack Leiter, Vanderbilt (Pitcher)
· April: Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Oklahoma State (Player); Kevin Kopps, Arkansas (Pitcher)
· May: Jack Rogers, Sam Houston (Player); Kevin Kopps, Arkansas (Pitcher)