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 23 today. William & Mary junior infielder Michael Katz was named National Hitter of the Week, while Stony Brook’s senior right-handed pitcher Frankie Vanderka 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.
Katz had another strong week for the Tribe leading the team in average at .750 (9-for-12). He collected two doubles, three homers, 12 RBIs, and nine runs scored. The Falls Church, Va., native finished the week with a .765 on-base-percentage, and 1.667 slugging-percentage. He also had 28 putouts, one assist, and zero errors. Against Longwood on Wednesday, Katz went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI. On Friday, Katz piled up four hits, had his third multi-home run game of the season, and had five RBI to go along with a walk and three runs scored. In his weekend finale, the junior went 3-for-3, with a double, home run, two walks, and five RBI. He ranks second in the conference in average (.408), while he leads the conference in home runs (12), and RBIs (47).
Vanderka pitched his third career no-hitter to lead Stony Brook to a 7-0 victory in game one of Saturday’s doubleheader with Albany. The no-hitter was his second complete game shutout of the season. The Levittown, N.Y., native limited Albany to three base runners, two walks and a hit-by-pitch, and struck out 10 batters, including four of the first six batters he faced. He fanned Albany’s Brian Bullard in the ninth inning for the final out of the no-hitter. He now has no-hitters against NJIT (March 18, 2011), Fordham (March 10, 2013) and Albany (March 22, 2014).
