FROM CBD NEWS SOURCE
MORGANTOWN, W.Va – The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) released its National Player of the Week awards for the period ending March 9 today. Oklahoma junior catcher/first baseman Mac James was named National Hitter of the Week, while Miami senior right-handed pitcher Javi Salas 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.
James hit a team-high .684 (13-for-19) in a 4-1 week for the Sooners. With a hit in all five games last week, he increased his hitting streak to eight games. James totaled six runs scored and six driven in. He went 3-for-3 with a RBI double and a stolen base against Abilene Christian on Wednesday.
In game one of a doubleheader win over Rutgers on Friday, he knocked in three runs on three hits, including a double, and walked. James doubled for the third straight game as the Sooners won the nightcap, and he finished 2-for-3 with a run and a RBI. On Sunday, James went 4-for-4, his second four-hit game of the season, scored three runs and hit a game-tying home run in the bottom of the sixth inning. In the weekend series, he batted .750 (9-for-12). For the week, James slugged 1.000 and had an on-base percentage of .714.
Salas twirled just the second perfect game in school history in a March 4 win over Villanova. He threw just the 23rd perfect game in modern Division I history (since 1957) in a 17-0 victory over Villanova at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field.
Salas’ perfect game was the first in Division I since Matt Roberts of Virginia accomplished the feat in 2011. The ACC Pitcher of the Week award is the first for Miami this season and the first since Andrew Suarez earned the same recognition on April 22, 2013 after a complete game shutout of Clemson.
Salas became just the second Miami Hurricane to ever throw a perfect game and the first since Kevin Sheary on March 14, 1987. Striking out six Wildcat batters, Salas needed 113 pitches to complete the game for a 17-0 Miami win.
