CHICAGO (NBCWA) – The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) released its National Hitter and Pitcher of the Week awards for the period ending March 31st.

Garthwaite

Simmons

Washington junior outfielder Jay Garthwaite earned the Hitter of the Week award, while Texas sophomore lefthander Justin Simmons took the Pitcher of the Week honors. The NCBWA Board reviews candidates from each Division I Conference each week and names winners each Tuesday throughout the season.

Garthwaite, a junior from Kent, Wash., led the Huskies to a 3-2 record in games last week at Washington State and No. 15 Arizona State. He went 11-for-22 (.500) in the five games, driving in a remarkable 16 runs. Garthwaite also scored eight times, hit two doubles and belted four home runs. He slugged for an outstanding 1.136 percentage and also walked three times to account for a .560 on-base mark. Garthwaite’s 16 runs batted in for the week was more than all but one of his teammates have posted all season.

Simmons tossed a 10-inning complete game shutout in a 2-0 victory at Stanford, helping the Longhorns win the middle game of the road series against the nation's top-ranked (Baseball America) entry. In his only appearance of the week, he scattered five hits, walked three, struck out five, and lasted through a 147-pitch performance on March 29. The sophomore lefthander also raised his league-leading overall record to 8-0 and extended a personal scoreless innings streak to 18 frames. It was the first shutout of the Cardinal since April 28, 2001, when they were blanked by California, 4-0. It was UT's fifth shutout win in a six-game span, and the team had a Big 12-record skein of 41 consecutive innings without a run allowed over a two-week period.

Simmons is the second Texas hurler in three weeks to be named NCBWA Pitcher of the Week.

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.

2002 NCBWA Players of the Week:
• Feb. 5: Chad Corona, San Diego St. (Hitter); Ryan Schroyer, Arizona St. (Pitcher)
• Feb. 12: Shaun Larkin, Cal State Northridge (Hitter); Phillip Aragon, Nicholls St. (Pitcher)
• Feb. 19: Ryan Schade, Western Carolina (Hitter); Jared Theodorakos, Baylor (Pitcher)
• Feb. 26: Jesse Crain, Houston (Hitter); Shane Komine, Nebraska and Joe Linde, Eastern Michigan (Pitcher)
• Mar. 5: Jeff Cook, Southern Miss (Hitter); Eric Brandon, Auburn (Pitcher)
• Mar. 12: Mike Arbinger, Ohio (Hitter); Joseph Blanton, Kentucky and Matt Hamer, The Citadel (Pitcher)
• Mar. 19: Khalil Greene, Clemson (Hitter); Brad Halsey, Texas (Pitcher)
• Mar. 26: Shane Costa, Cal State Fullerton (Hitter); Brad Sullivan, Houston (Pitcher)
• Apr. 2: Jay Garthwaite, Washington (Hitter); Justin Simmons, Texas (Pitcher)
• Apr. 9: Jamie D'Antona, Wake Forest and Jeremy Isenhower, Southwest Missouri State (Hitter); René Recio, Oral Roberts (Pitcher)
• Apr. 16: Jason Cooper, Stanford and Jesse Novalis, Lehigh (Hitter); Bryan Bullington, Ball State (Pitcher)
• Apr. 23: Brad Bauder, Virginia Tech (Hitter); John Tetuan, Wichita State (Pitcher)
• Apr. 30: Brent Boyd, Alabama (Hitter); Dan Scott, Sacred Heart (Pitcher)
• May 7: Matt Krimmel, George Washington (Hitter); Jeremy Rogelstad, San Jose State and Tom Wheeler, Rutgers (Pitcher)
• May 14: Paul McAnulty, Long Beach State (Hitter); Alex Hart, Florida (Pitcher)