DALLAS (NCBWA) – The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association released the Pro-Line Cap National Player of the Week awards for the period ending Feb. 14, today.

Rice freshman outfielder Aaron Luna (Southlake, Texas) was named National Hitter of the Week, while Arkansas sophomore left-handed pitcher Nick Schmidt 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.

Luna opened his collegiate career by homering in his first three at-bats, going deep twice against Central Missouri State and once against McNeese State. He also hit a homer against Texas Tech on Friday, making each of his first four collegiate hits home runs. Luna had five hits total in five games for Rice, driving in nine runs and scoring seven times.

Schmidt quickly displaced any notion of a sophomore jinx in his season debut against perennial power Oklahoma State at the Jaguar Invitational in Mobile, Ala. The left-hander from St. Louis, Mo., worked the first six innings of the 12th no-hitter in school history. Schmidt struck out six over six innings and walked three on 87 pitches. It was the first time in 71 years of recorded baseball at Oklahoma State the Cowboys had been held without a hit.

With this week's honor, Schmidt automatically is named to the watch list for Roger Clemens Award, given to the national collegiate pitcher of the year, sponsored by the Greater Houston Baseball Organization.

The Fort Worth-based Pro-Line Cap Co. supplies the official cap to more than 100 Division I college teams. This is the second season Pro-Line has sponsored the NCBWA's Players of the Week. The sponsorship provides for plaques to be awarded to each of the weekly winners and other promotional consideration. For more information about Pro-Line, visit their Web site at www.prolinecap.com.

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 Pro-Line Cap Players of the Week, contact Mike Montoro at the University of Southern Mississippi at 601-266-5947.

2006 Pro-Line Cap Players of the Week:
• Feb. 14: Aaron Luna, Rice (Hitter); Nick Schmidt, Arkansas (Pitcher)
• Feb. 21: Chris Swauger, The Citadel (Hitter); Barry Enright, Pepperdine and Brad Furnish, TCU (Pitcher)
• Feb. 28: Kyle Russell, Texas (Hitter); Rodney Brantley, Dallas Baptist (Pitcher)
• March 7: Luke Hopkins, New Mexico State (Hitter); Joba Chamberlain, Nebraska (Pitcher)
• March 14: Chris Gradoville, Creighton (Hitter); David Price, Vanderbilt (Pitcher)
• March 21: Kellen Kulbacki, James Madison (Hitter); Daniel Best, Southern Miss and Miles Morgan, Texas Tech (Pitcher)
• March 28: Trey McDaniel, Western Carolina (Hitter); Christian Friedrich, Eastern Kentucky (Pitcher)
• April 4: Andy D'Alessio, Clemson (Hitter); Tim Lincecum, Washington (Pitcher)
• April 11: Reid Fronk, North Carolina (Hitter); Adam Ottavino, Northeastern (Pitcher)
• April 18: Pedro Alvarez, Vanderbilt (Hitter); Mike Ballard, Virginia (Pitcher)
• April 25: Case Cassedy, Furman (Hitter); Brooks Brown, Georgia (Pitcher)
• May 2: Emeel Salem, Alabama (Hitter); Bobby Blevins, LeMoyne (Pitcher)
• May 9: Jacob Dempsey, Winthrop (Hitter); Nick Jones, Oral Roberts (Pitcher)
• May 16: Josh Dew, Troy (Hitter); Brad Lincoln, Houston (Pitcher)

Related links:
• Pro-Line Cap Player of the Week plaques