CHICAGO (NBCWA) – The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) released its National Hitter and Pitcher of the Week awards for the period ending March 2.

Cook

Johnson

Southern Miss senior outfielder Jeff Cook was named the National Hitter of the Week, while Mississippi State sophomore RHP Alan Johnson won 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.

Cook hit .571 (8-for-14) for the week, including a double, a triple, a stolen base, two home runs (both grand slams) and nine RBIs. He had an on-base percentage of .600, a slugging percentage of 1.214 and a fielding percentage of 1.000 (eight chances). The grand slams he hit were in back-to-back games on Saturday and Sunday, making him the first Southern Miss batter to hit grand slams in back-to-back games. It is also believed to be a first in Conference USA history as well. In Saturday's game, Cook hit for the cycle, becoming the first Southern Miss baseball player to accomplish that feat since Cliff Wren in 1998. Cook hit a single in the fourth inning, a double in the eighth inning, a triple in the first inning and the homer, which he hit with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, giving the Golden Eagles the 17-15 come-from-behind victory. In game three, with the game tied at 4-4 in the bottom of the eighth inning and the bases loaded, Cook once again hit a grand slam (1-2 count) over the right field wall.

Johnson carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning of his second career Mississippi State start vs. East Tennessee State on March 1. ETSU's Beau Alford ended Johnson¹s bid for a no-hitter and his impressive mound performance with a sharply hit pinch-hit single to right. Johnson struck out four of the first five batters he faced, did not allow a base runner until striking the lead-off hitter in the fifth, fanned five straight Buccaneer batters in the fifth and sixth innings, and faced one over the minimum through seven innings of pitching. He finished with a staff season-high 11 strikeouts and he did not walk a batter in his second straight outing.