FROM NCBWA RELEASE
MORGANTOWN, W.Va – The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) released its National Player of the Week awards for the period ending March 11, today. Coastal Carolina senior outfielder Daniel Bowman was named National Hitter of the Week, while North Carolina junior right-hander Michael Morin 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.
Bowman batted .538 (14-26) in six games last week, recorded multiple hits in all six contests and tallied an RBI in five of the six outings. The Bridgewater, Va., native scored seven times, had six RBI and hit for the cycle over the week with a double, triple and home run. He also walked three times, stole two bases, put down a sacrifice and hit a sacrifice fly to help the Chanticleers win four games. Bowman was 3-4 with a double, home run and two RBIs vs. Toledo on March 9, and was 3-5 vs. Marist on March 10. He accounted for three of Coastal’s four runs in the 4-1 win over Ohio State on Saturday. Bowman finished the week with a .581 on-base percentage and a .769 slugging percentage.
Morin appeared in all five UNC wins last week, including a series sweep at No. 17 Clemson. The Leawood, Kansas, native opened the week by notching saves in midweek wins over Davidson and at Elon. Friday night at Clemson, Morin entered in the eighth inning night with the game-tying run at second and picked up a strikeout before tossing a scoreless ninth to complete the save.
After a three-run ninth by the Tar Heels Saturday, Morin came on and earned his second straight save of the weekend with a scoreless inning. A ninth inning rally that tied the Sunday contest saw Morin enter in the bottom of the ninth with the winning run at third base. The right-hander struck out Thomas Brittle to end the threat. Morin then picked up a big double play in the 10th before tossing a 1-2-3 11th to earn his first win of the year. Morin is now tied for the most saves in the ACC with six on the year after the four last week. He has not allowed a run this season in 10 appearances spanning 12.1 innings and owns a 13/2 K/BB ratio. Morin has moved into fifth place on the UNC all-time saves list with 19, passing Paul Shuey’s mark of 18.
