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 May 1, today. Utah junior shortstop James Brooks and Army senior shortstop Clint Moore were named Co-National Hitters of the Week, while Oregon State redshirt junior left-hander Josh Osich 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.
Brooks batted .692 (18-for-26) while helping Utah amass a perfect 5-0 record last week, including a Mountain West series sweep on the road at Air Force. The Melbourne, Australia native had at least three hits in four of the five games and finished with 12 extra-base hits on the week. Hitting from the leadoff position, Brooks drove in 12 runs and scored 10 more while also registering nine doubles, two triples, one home run and one walk. In a 15-8 win at Utah Valley last Tuesday, Brooks tied a school record for hits with a 6-for-6 performance, collecting six RBIs, three doubles and a triple. He also finished 3-for-5 with two RBI, two runs scored, a double and a homer in a continuation of a suspended March 27 meeting with Air Force. Brooks then proceeded to go 9-for-15 with four RBI, six runs scored, five doubles and a triple in the Utes’ scheduled three-game series at Air Force. For the week, he posted on-base and slugging percentages of .714 and 1.308, respectively.
Moore hit .333 during the week with four home runs, two doubles and 16 RBIs. The Greensboro, N.C., native exploded offensively against Lafayette last Monday in helping Army take two games from the Leopards. He hit a grand slam and drove in five runs in Army’s 9-0 victory in the opening game of the conference twinbill, but was even better in the nightcap. In Army’s 12-2 win in the second game, Moore crushed a solo home run, a two-run shot and a three-run homer and set a new career high with six RBIs. It marks just the third time in Patriot League history that a player has hit three home runs in one game, and Moore was the first Army player to do it since 2005. Moore also became the first Army player since Mike Greco in 2008 to record six RBIs in a contest
Osich threw the first complete-game no-hitter for Oregon State since 1947 – a span of 64 years – as he and the Beavers defeated No. 24 UCLA 2-0 on Saturday. The Boise, Idaho native struck out a career-best 13 and threw the first no-hitter by a Pac-10 pitcher against a league opponent since Stanford’s Jason Middlebrook in 1994 against UCLA. Osich’s only blemish came in the fourth when he issued a walk with two outs. He retired the first 11 batters he faced, then the last 16 and went just one over the game’s minimum. It was his first career complete game as he threw 121 pitches. Of his 27 outs, only three left the infield and he recorded two assists of his own on 1-3 putouts. The no-hitter was the fourth in school history – the last two have been achieved by multiple pitchers each time.
Pro-Line Athletic, owned by Badger Sport, supplies caps and uniforms to several D-1 college baseball teams, and this is the seventh season Pro-Line has sponsored the NCBWA’s Players of the Week. 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).
2011 WINNERS:
Pro-Line Athletic Hitter of the Week – Feb. 22 – David Herbek, SS, James Madison; March 1 – Corben Green, INF, Louisiana-Monroe; March 7 – Anthony Trajano, INF, Cal State Fullerton; March 14 – Dusty Quattlebaum, 1B/DH, Gardner-Webb; March 21 – Saxon Butler, 1B, Samford; March 28 – Colin Moran, 3B, North Carolina; April 5 – Victor Roache, OF, Georgia Southern; April 12 – Brad Miller, SS, Clemson & Doug Bream, OF, Liberty; April 19 – Tyler Ogle, C, Oklahoma; April 26 – D.J. Hicks, DH, UCF and Trenton Moses, 3B, Southeast Missouri State; May 3 – James Brooks, SS, Utah and Clint Moore, SS, Army.
Pro-Line Athletic Pitcher of the Week – Feb. 22 – Taylor Jungmann, RHP, Texas; March 1 – Danny Hultzen, LHP, Virginia; March 7 – Kyle Fitzpatrick, RHP, Florida International; March 14 – Logan Verrett, RHP, Baylor; March 21 – Frankie Vanderka, RHP, Stony Brook; March 28 – Trevor Bauer, RHP, UCLA; April 5 – Will Roberts, RHP, Virginia; April 12 – Jeremy Gonzales, RHP, Northern Illinois; April 19 – John Simms, RHP, Rice; April 26 – Trevor Bauer, RHP, UCLA; May 3 – Josh Osich, LHP, Oregon State.
