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May 4, 2004 For Immediate Release Contact: Michael Montoro 601-266-5947 |
| South Carolina boasts 2nd straight pitcher of week | |
| CLINE, HALL, HEMPY AND SUZUKI ARE NCBWA 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 May 2. Cal State Fullerton junior catcher Kurt Suzuki and Stanford senior infielder/outfielder Brian Hall have been named National Co-Hitters of the Week, while South Carolina freshman LHP Arik Hempy and West Virginia junior LHP Zac Cline 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. Suzuki reached base in his last 11 appearances and had nine consecutive hits – one shy of the Fullerton record – to help Cal State Fullerton to a three-game sweep of Cal Poly. Suzuki batted .846 (11-for-13) in three games and reached based in 13 of his 15 appearances. He had eight singles, a double, a triple and a homer on the weekend and had the game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth in Friday's 3-2 win. On the season, Suzuki is batting a Big West Conference-best .442 and has a .545 on-base percentage. Hall had a huge series for No. 2-ranked Stanford in a three-game sweep of Washington State, hitting an incredible .909 by going 10-for-11 with a double, two homers, eight RBIs, one walk and a 1.545 slugging percentage. Hall raised his season average to .399 with nine homers, 46 RBIs and a team-high 10 stolen bases. Hall was 4-for-4 in both of the first two games of the Washington State series, adding a homer and three RBIs in Friday night's opener and two RBIs in Saturday's contest, while reaching base in eight consecutive official at bats during the two contests. He was 2-for-3 with a homer and three RBIs in Sunday's finale. Hall also had a hit (1-5, 2 RBIs) and drove in a pair of runs with two sacrifice flies last Tuesday in a 12-8 win in 14 innings at Santa Clara as he has hit safely in 25 of his last 26 games. He finished the week with a .688 batting average (11-16), a double, two homers, 10 RBIs, seven runs scored and a 1.125 slugging percentage. Hempy pitched his first career complete game shutout in a 3-0 win vs. No. 9-ranked Ole Miss to take series and earned his first career save with three scoreless innings of relief in 7-3 win vs. the Rebels in opening game of the series. Hempy did not allow a run in 12 innings pitched this week and issued just two walks and four hits while striking out 13 batters. His 11 strikeouts vs. Ole Miss on Sunday is a career-high. Hempy did not allow an Ole Miss player to reach third base in Sunday's complete game performance. In his last 24 2/3 innings pitched, Hempy has allowed just three runs. Cline was just four outs away from tossing a no-hitter against St. John's, before allowing two hits in his league-leading seventh complete game of the season. The southpaw pitched seven innings, giving up two hits and two walks, while striking out four. The junior leads the Mountaineers with a 6-2 record and picked up his 22nd career victory to tie for seventh on the all-time list at WVU. • 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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