DALLAS (NCBWA) The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) released its National Player of the Week awards for the period ending May 16. Arizona State freshman designated hitter Ethan Long was named National Hitter of the Week, while Virginia senior left-handed pitcher Andrew 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.
Long homered four times over four games last week, the biggest of which being a three-run walk-off shot to stun No. 23 Oregon State on Friday night in a 9-6 come-from-behind victory. He had a three-run homer and five RBI against a Top-40 RPI Nevada team on Tuesday, proving to be the difference in a 14-11 slugfest.
The Gilbert, Arizona, native came right back with two home runs against Oregon State on Saturday to help lead ASU to a convincing 11-5 victory to take the series. At one point, between his walk-off homer on Friday and homering in his first two at-bats Saturday, Long hit three long balls on just five pitches.
Long has been responsible for the go-ahead RBI in seven Sun Devil victories this season three coming against ranked opponents (No. 16 Oregon, No. 18 Stanford and No. 23 Oregon State) and four coming by way of the long ball. He has two go-ahead home runs in the ninth inning of games this year.
Behind Long's bat, ASU has won four straight weekend series. He began getting hot with his go-ahead two-RBI eighth-inning double off potential Stanford All-American closer Zach Grech on April 16. In the 19-game stretch that started that night, Long is batting .444 with 40 RBI, 15 home runs, eight doubles, a 1.181 slugging percentage, a .500 OBP and an absurd 1.681 OPS. Of his 32 hits in that span, 23 have been for extra bases.
Abbott pitched 7-1/3 innings of hitless baseball in the series opener against Wake Forest on Friday (May 14), before giving way to two Cavalier relievers who finished the no-hitter. The Republican Grove, Virginia, native struck out 16 batters, the most by an ACC pitcher this season and tied for the third most ever by a UVA pitcher in a single game.
The first eight outs of the contest were swinging strikeouts. Abbott struck out the side four times and retired the final 12 batters he faced. He leads the ACC in strikeouts this season with 115, the sixth-most in a single season by a UVA pitcher. In the process, he moved up to third all-time on Virginias career strikeout list with 280.
The no-hitter was the first thrown by an ACC school this season and the 24th across college baseball in 2021. Virginia is also responsible for the last no-hitter thrown in ACC play when Nathan Kirby struck out 18 against Pitt on April 4, 2014.
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)