DALLAS (NCBWA) – The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association has announced its sixth NCAA Division III National Players of the Week for the 2006 season, with top honors going to outfielder Jake Bell of Mississippi College (Clinton, Miss.) and southpaw Chuck Huggins of Trinity University (San Antonio, Texas) for April 3-9.

In a week of close voting in which eight different players received votes, Bell, a senior from Pearl, Miss., emerged on top after leading the Choctaws to a 6-0 week. He batted .571 (12-for-21) with five extra-base hits, including four home runs, with a 1.190 slugging pct., 13 RBI, 10 runs scored, and three stolen bases. He batted .545 (6-for-11) to help Mississippi College sweep ASC East rival Austin College in a three-game series, including an ASC single-game record-tying three home runs with six RBI in the series opener on Friday. In non-conference games vs. Tougaloo and Rhodes earlier in the week, he went 6-for-10. Bell was the American Southwest Conference East Division Hitter of the Week.

Huggins, a sophomore from Atherton, Calif., made Trinity the first team to have two players with weekly honors this season when he tossed a seven-inning complete-game no-hitter to beat Hendrix on Sunday and finish off a weekend conference series sweep by the Tigers. He struck out a career-high 13 batters, allowing just three total base runners (two walks, one hit batter). In two starts against Hendrix this year, he has allowed just one hit through 14 innings, striking out 23 batters. For the season, he is 5-1 with an ERA of 2.86, has struck out 47 batters, and opponents are hitting .191 against him. Huggins was the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week.

Honorable mention hitters: John Tine (Utica) – .417 (5-12), 5 runs, 10 RBI, 1 double, 4 home runs, 1.500 slugging pct.; Tyler Haddock (Ripon) – .579 (11-19), 7 runs, 9 RBI, 4 doubles, 1 triple, 2 home runs, 1.211 slugging pct.; Blake Shaffer (Howard Payne) – .750 (12-16), 10 runs, 6 RBI, 2 doubles, 1 home run, 1.063 slugging pct.; Jason Fosler (Wisconsin-Oshkosh) – .636 (14-22), 8 runs, 11 RBI, 1 double, 2 triples, .864 slugging pct.; Jeremy Peters (Ithaca) – .632 (12-19), 3 runs, 2 RBI, 1 double, .684 slugging pct.; Nick Perkins (Dickinson) – .857 (6-7), 4 runs, 6 RBI, 3 doubles, 1 home run, 1.714 slugging pct.; Kyle Sherman (Ohio Wesleyan) – .500 (13-26), 10 runs, 13 RBI, 2 doubles, 2 triples, 1 home run, .846 slugging pct.

Honorable mention pitchers: Ted Serro (Franklin & Marshall) – 1-0, 0.60 ERA, 1 save, 9 ip, 4 hits, 9 strikeouts; Dean Shirley (Mary Hardin-Baylor) – 1-0, 1.63 ERA, 11 ip, 7 hits, 1 strikeout; Pat Berndsen (Thomas More) – 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 7 ip, 2 hits, 8 strikeouts; Cory Anderson (Coast Guard) – 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 10 ip, 8 hits, 10 strikeouts; Tim Dunphy (Brandeis) – 2-0, 1.59 ERA, 14 ip, 11 hits, 7 strikeouts, 2 complete games; Jon Kensecki (DeSales) – 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 4.1 ip, 4 hits, 10 strikeouts.

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.

For more information on the NCBWA Division III Players of the Week, contact Blair Cash at George Fox University at 503-554-2926.