National Collegiate Baseball Writers April 29, 2003
For Immediate Release
Contact: Russ Anderson
Lamar slugger on a tear
NCBWA NAMES NATIONAL
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

CHICAGO (NBCWA) – The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) released its National Hitter and Pitcher of the Week awards for the period ending April 27.

Foster
Head

Lamar junior outfielder Jordan Foster was named National Hitter of the Week, while Mississippi freshman LHP Stephen Head 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.

Foster hit .706 (12-for-17) with seven runs scored, two doubles, a triple, two home runs and 14 RBI in helping Lamar post a 4-0 record last week. He also posted a 1.294 slugging percentage and a .750 on-base percentage. Foster went 2-for-4, hit his first career grand slam and had a career-best five RBI in Lamar's 9-5 win over third-ranked Rice on April 23. In Lamar's three-game sweep over Nicholls State, Foster hit .769 (10-for-13) with six runs scored, two doubles, a triple, a home run and nine RBI. He posted a 1.300 slugging percentage and a .800 on-base percentage. Foster went 4-for-5 with two RBI in the Cardinals' 12-9 win on Friday and was 4-for-4 with a double, a home run and a career-high seven RBI in Saturday's 16-8 win. He closed out the series by going 2-for-4 with two runs scored.

Head recorded a win and a save in two appearances against South Carolina this past weekend to help Ole Miss to its first series win over the Gamecocks since 1995. He recorded his ninth save of the year in Friday's 6-5 win, working 2.0 innings in relief. Head started Sunday's game and fired a complete-game, two-hit shutout in a 2-0 Ole Miss win, after South Carolina had recorded 33 hits in the first two games of the series. He used just 86 pitches in his Sunday start to record the first complete-game shutout by a Rebel pitcher since 2001. Head did not allow a hit after the fifth inning and allowed only one runner to reach second base the entire game.

2003 NCBWA Players of the Week:
Feb. 4: Ryan Baty, Kansas (Hitter); Jered Liebeck, Arizona State (Pitcher)
Feb. 11: Jonny Kaplan, Tulane (Hitter); Wes Littleton, Cal State Fullerton (Pitcher)
Feb. 18: Travis Metcalf, Kansas (Hitter); Sean Rierson, Arizona (Pitcher)
Feb. 25: C.J. Smith, Florida (Hitter); Kyle Sleeth, Wake Forest (Pitcher)
March 4: Jeff Cook, Southern Miss (Hitter); Alan Johnson, Mississippi State (Pitcher)
March 11: Ronnie Prettyman, Cal State Fullerton (Hitter); Jeff Garner, Central Michigan (Pitcher)
March 18: Anthony Raglani, George Washington (Hitter); Jarrett Gardner, Arkansas (Pitcher)
March 25: Michael Aubrey, Tulane (Hitter); Tom Robbins, Southwest Texas (Pitcher)
April 1: Ryan Braun, Miami, Fla. (Hitter); Matthew Luca, UNLV (Pitcher)
April 8: Mike DeLorenzo, Saint Joseph's (Hitter); Wade Townsend, Rice and Dennis Bigley, Oral Roberts (Pitcher)
April 15: Matt Lauderdale, College of Charleston (Hitter); Scott Lewis, Ohio State and Greg Prenger, Ohio State (Pitcher)
April 22: Neil Sellers, Eastern Kentucky and Taylor Eckel, Toledo (Hitter); Glen Perkins, Minnesota (Pitcher)
April 29: Jordan Foster, Lamar (Hitter); Stephen Head, Ole Miss (Pitcher)
May 6: Ryan Garko, Stanford and Mike Costello, Towson (Hitter); Matt Torra, Massachusetts (Pitcher)
May 13: Phil Rothkugel, Central Connecticut (Hitter); Jered Weaver, Long Beach State (Pitcher)