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 May 8, today. Utah Valley senior first baseman Goose Kallunki was named National Hitter of the Week, while Oklahoma State junior left-hander Andrew Heaney 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.
Kallunki is the first player from Utah Valley to win a weekly NCBWA award. He went 10-for-19 (.526) in the week’s five games and hit three home runs, three doubles, one triple, while driving in 12 runs. Kallunki had an on-base percentage .640 and slugging percentage of 1.263 while helping the Wolverines increase their nation-leading winning streak to 28 games. The senior currently leads the nation in RBI with 72 and ranks in the top 10 among national leaders in batting average (.419), home runs (15), slugging percentage (.747), hits (78) and total bases (139).
Heaney was dominant on the mound in Oklahoma State’s 3-0 win in The Bedlam Series opener against No. 26 Oklahoma in Tulsa. The junior southpaw tossed his third shutout and fourth complete game of the season and allowed just three hits while striking out seven and issuing only one walk. In pitching OSU to its ninth-straight victory, which marked its longest winning streak since 2008, Heaney allowed only two OU runners to advance past first base, both of those coming in the second inning. He retired the Sooners in order in the first, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth innings and set down 13-straight hitters to end the game. With nine shutout innings, Heaney extended his consecutive scoreless innings streak to 21, the second-longest streak of his career. Earlier this season, he tossed 24.1-straight innings without allowing a run.
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).
