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 February 17 today. Troy junior outfielder Danny Collins was named National Hitter of the Week, while Georgia Tech senior right-handed pitcher Buck Farmer 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.
Collins, who led Troy to a four-game sweep of Florida A&M in the season-opening weekend, hit for the cycle in the second game of the season, the Trojans first cycle since 2009. The Niceville, Fla., native finished the weekend batting at a .571 clip (8-for-14) with nine runs scored, two doubles, two triples, a home run, nine RBI, a 1.214 slugging percentage and a .667 on-base percentage. Collins, who did not strikeout all weekend, also stole a base in one attempt and reached base in 12 of 18 plate appearances. He scored multiple runs in all four games of the weekend. In addition, Collins leads the SBC through the first weekend with an astounding 17 total bases.
Farmer, a preseason senior All-American, set a career high with 14 strikeouts in eight dominant innings, leading the No. 21 Yellow Jackets to a 3-0 shutout victory over Akron on Opening Day in Atlanta. The senior walked none and scattered four singles in improving his career record to 25-8 with his fourth career combined shutout. Just one batter advanced past first in the game – that coming with two outs in the fifth inning – and there were never multiple Akron runners on base in the game. Of Farmer’s 97 pitches, 77 were strikes. His 14 strikeouts moved him from 13th to eighth on the Yellow Jackets’ all-time strikeouts list. The Conyers, Ga., right-hander now has 279 strikeouts for his career.
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).
