FROM NCBWA RELEASE
MORGANTOWN, W.Va – The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) released the Pro-Line Athletic National Player of the Week awards for the period ending April 4, today. Virginia Tech junior utility player Austin Wates was named National Hitter of the Week, while South Florida junior left-handed pitcher Andrew Barbosa was named National Pitcher of the Week. This marks the third-straight week that a USF pitcher has earned the national recognition. The NCBWA Board reviews candidates from each Division I Conference each week and names winners each Tuesday throughout the season.
Wates was the Hokies’ offensive leader during a 4-1 week that saw them defeat No. 29 VMI, East Tennessee State (a team that was receiving votes in the coaches’ poll) and No. 4 Florida State twice. The junior led or tied for the team-lead in nearly every offensive category. The Richmond, Va., native tallied a career-high five RBIs against ETSU, and went 4-for-5 with three RBI in a Friday night win over FSU, the Hokies’ first win in Tallahassee since 1989. For the week, he hit .476 with a pair of homers and 10 RBI. Five of his 10 hits went for extra bases, and he scored eight runs.
Barbosa threw a complete game, three hit shutout in USF’s 5-0 victory over Cincinnati on April 2. The San Juan, Puerto Rico native struck out a career-high 16 batters, just one shy of the school record of 17. Of his 16 Ks, 14 were swinging. He struck out the side in both the fourth and fifth innings and struck out a batter in every inning except the ninth. Barbosa did not allow a runner to reach third base and saw only two Bearcat runners reached second. Of his 128 pitches, 100 were strikes. He only walked one batter, which came in the ninth inning. He faced just seven batters over the minimum.
Pro-Line Athletic, owned by Badger Sport, supplies caps and uniforms to several D-1 college baseball teams and this is the sixth season Pro-Line has sponsored the NCBWA’s Players of the Week. The sponsorship provides for plaques to be awarded to each of the weekly winners and other promotional consideration. For more information about Pro-Line and Badger, visit their web sites at: www.badgersport.com and www.prolinecap.com
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, contact NCBWA Executive Assistant Director Mike Montoro (304-293-2821, mike.montoro@mail.wvu.edu).
