DALLAS (NCBWA) – The National Collegiate Baseball Writers
Association (NCBWA) released the Pro-Line Athletic National
Player of the Week awards for the period ending May 22. Florida
State freshman infielder
Jason Stidham was named National Hitter of the Week, while
Southern Miss senior righthander
Ryan Belanger was named National Pitcher of the Week.
The
NCBWA Board has reviewed candidates from each Division I conference
each week and named winners each Tuesday throughout the season.
This is the final selection of the 2007 season.
Stidham put together a spectacular three-game series as the freshman
third baseman hit .571 (8-for-14) in leading Florida State to its
first three-game series sweep of Georgia Tech in Atlanta. The Palm
Bay, Fla., native registered multiple hits in all three games as
he posted his second four-hit game of his career in game one. He
collected a home run and three doubles en route to posting a 1.000
slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .588. Stidham led
the team in hits (8), doubles (3), RBI's (10), total bases (14)
and batting average on the week. He opened the series, with four
hits including a home run and a double as he registered his first
four-RBI game of his collegiate career. He hit what would be the
eventual game-winner in the top of the third as he hit a two-out,
2-RBI single. On Friday, he had two doubles and two RBI's as well
as a stolen base.
In the series finale, Stidham tied his career-high in RBI's with
four, matched just two days prior. In a nine-run third, Stidham
made two plate appearances and was the only Seminole to collect
two hits in the inning. He hit a two-run single in his first at-bat
and then an RBI infield single in his second at-bat. He hit a sacrifice
fly RBI in the ninth to cap off his 10 RBI performance.
Belanger pitched the first complete-game of his two-year Southern
Miss career and limited Houston to four hits, one walk and struck
out eight batters to lead Southern Miss to a 6-0 victory over the
Cougars in game one of the series at Cougar Field on Thursday night.
Belanger finished with 120 pitches, gave up one walk in the first
inning, two hits in the third inning, one in the fourth inning and
one in the eighth inning. Only one runner advanced to second base
in the game and he retired the side in six of the nine innings.
His eight strikeouts matched his season high that he collected against
Kent State on March 16.
Fort Worth-based Pro-Line Athletic supplies the official cap
to more than 100 Division I college teams and official uniforms
and team wear to six Division 1 college teams. This is the third
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
prolineathletic.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 Athletic Players of the
Week, contact Mike Montoro
at the University of Southern Mississippi at 601-266-5947.
2007 Pro-Line Athletic Players of the Week:
• Feb. 13: Pedro Alvarez, Vanderbilt (Hitter);
Spencer Steedley, Charlotte (Pitcher)
• Feb. 20: Jericho Jones, Louisiana Tech
(Hitter); James Simmons, UC Riverside (Pitcher)
• Feb. 27: Mike Bianucci, Auburn (Hitter);
Brian Matusz, San Diego (Pitcher)
• March 6: David Doss, South Alabama (Hitter);
Sean Urena, Cal State Fullerton (Pitcher)
• March 13: Justin Bour, George Mason (Hitter);
David Price, Vanderbilt (Pitcher)
• March 20: Corey Brown, Oklahoma State
(Hitter); Lance Lynn, Ole Miss (Pitcher)
• March 27: Matt LaPorta, Florida (Hitter);
Eric Rohr, Saint Louis (Pitcher)
• April 3: Tony Thomas Jr., Florida State
(Hitter); Trey Barham, VMI (Pitcher)
• April 10: Travis Jones, South Carolina
(Hitter); Ryan Berry, Rice and Rick Zagone, Missouri (Pitcher)
• April 17: Kellen Kulbacki, James Madison
(Hitter); Brad Brach, Monmouth (Pitcher)
• April 24: Ryan Heath, Oakland (Hitter);
Scott Barnes, St. John's (Pitcher)
• May 1: Matt Horwath, UCF (Hitter); James
Adkins, Tennessee (Pitcher)
• May 8: Blake Stouffer, Texas A&M (Hitter);
Matt Daly, Hawai'i (Pitcher)
• May 15: Matt Spencer, Arizona State (Hitter);
Matt Gianini, Central Connecticut (Pitcher)
• May 22: Jason Stidham, Florida State (Hitter);
Ryan Belanger, Southern Miss (Pitcher)
Related link:
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Pro-Line Athletic Player of the Week plaques
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