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April 20, 2004 For Immediate Release Contact: Michael Montoro 601-266-5947 |
| Four players share NCBWA weekly honors | |
| KIMLING, STOVALL, LAYDEN
AND HOWELL ARE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK |
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CHICAGO (NCBWA) – The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) released its National Hitter and Pitcher of the Week awards for the period ending April 18. Eastern Michigan's senior outfielder Todd Kimling and New Mexico's Daniel Stovall have been named National Co-Hitters of the Week, while Duke junior lefthanded pitcher Tim Layden and Texas' junior lefthanded pitcher J.P. Howell were named National Co-Pitchers of the Week. The NCBWA Board reviews candidates from each Division I Conference each week and names winners each Tuesday throughout the season. Kimling hit six home runs, four of them leading off an inning, and batted .476 (10-for-21) in Eastern Michigan's 4-1 week. Kimling scored nine times, drove in eight and drew four walks over a five-game span. The Monogahela, Pa., native, hit eight home runs in his first three seasons combined, opened the game with a home run at Detroit, then hit a three-run shot to give the Eagles the lead in the seventh. After hitting a solo shot against Anderson, he opened the series against rival Western Michigan going 2-for-5, which included a solo homer to open the sixth inning. Kimling, who posted a 1.333 slugging percentage and a .560 on-base percentage, closed out the three-game set by going 3-for-5 with two homers, three runs and a pair of RBIs. Stovall, from Midland, Texas, belted three home runs and three doubles last week, while helping the Lobos to a three-game sweep at Air Force. In game one, Stovall was 4-for-4 with a solo home run and two runs scored. He went 5-for-6 with two home runs, five RBI and two runs in game two, and followed in game three with an RBI after going 3-for-5 from the plate. For the week, Stovall hit .800 (12-for-15) with seven RBI and a slugging percentage of 1.600. Layden pitched a no-hitter on April 13 to lead the Blue Devils to a 4-0 win over Old Dominion. Layden struck out a career-high 12 batters in the Blue Devils' first no-hitter since 1991. Layden dominated from the beginning of the game. After ODU's lead-off hitter reached on an error to start the game, Layden retired 17 consecutive batters. He struck out two batters in each of the first three innings and struck out the side in the seventh. Layden faced just 32 batters on the night, walking three. Layden also led the Blue Devil offense, going 2-for-4 with the game-winning run. Howell tossed his third complete game of the season against Baylor on Sunday, April 18 to cap off a week in which he made two starts and allowed only one run on five hits over 10 innings of work. Of note, his start against the Bears went seven innings as the game was called due to the Big 12 Conference's 10-run rule. The Sacramento, Calif., native began the week by hurling three innings of one hit baseball against No. 3 Rice during which he fanned six to help the Horns post a 3-2 victory over the No. 3 Owls – their fourth consecutive triumph over Rice this year. He then returned to the mound five days later and limited the BU offense to only four hits over seven frames while striking out a career-best 12 en route to picking up his eighth victory of the season. • Founded in 1962, the NCBWA is dedicated to the advancement of college baseball. Membership is open to writers, broadcasters and publicists of the sport. Members receive a membership card, directory, newsletter updates and official votes in the Howser Award Player of the Year, Regional Player of the Year and NCBWA All-America voting. The NCBWA also sponsors preseason All-American awards, publication and writing contests. 2004 NCBWA Division I Players of the Week: |
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