DALLAS (NCBWA) – The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association released the Pro-Line Athletic National Player of the Week awards for the period ending April 4.

Wates	Barbosa

Virginia Tech junior utility player Austin Wates was named National Hitter of the Week, while South Florida junior left-handed pitcher Andrew Barbosa was named National Pitcher of the Week. This marks the third straight week that a USF pitcher has earned the national recognition. The NCBWA Board reviews candidates from each Division I Conference each week and names winners each Tuesday throughout the season.

Wates was the Hokies' offensive leader during a 4-1 week that saw them defeat No. 29 VMI, East Tennessee State (a team that was receiving votes in the coaches' poll) and No. 4 Florida State twice. The junior led or tied for the team-lead in nearly every offensive category. The Richmond, Va., native tallied a career-high five RBIs against ETSU, and went 4-for-5 with three RBI in a Friday night win over FSU, the Hokies' first win in Tallahassee since 1989. For the week, he hit .476 with a pair of homers and 10 RBI. Five of his 10 hits went for extra bases, and he scored eight runs.

Barbosa threw a complete game, three-hit shutout in USF's 5-0 victory over Cincinnati on April 2. The San Juan, Puerto Rico native struck out a career-high 16 batters, just one shy of the school record of 17. Of his 16 Ks, 14 were swinging. He struck out the side in both the fourth and fifth innings and struck out a batter in every inning except the ninth. Barbosa did not allow a runner to reach third base and saw only two Bearcat runners reached second. Of his 128 pitches, 100 were strikes. He only walked one batter, which came in the ninth inning. He faced just seven batters over the minimum.

Pro-Line Athletic, owned by Badger Sport, supplies the cap and uniforms to several Division I college teams. This is the sixth 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 or Badger Sports, visit their Web sites at prolineathletic.com and badgersport.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 NCBWA Assistant Executive Director Mike Montoro at West Virginia University at 304-293-2821.

2010 Pro-Line Athletic Players of the Week:
• Feb. 23: Zack MacPhee, Arizona State (Hitter); Matt Bywater, Pepperdine (Pitcher)
• March 2: Brian Fletcher, Auburn (Hitter); Jason Mitchell, Texas-Arlington (Pitcher)
• March 9: Mark Micowski, Georgia State (Hitter); Michael Goodnight, Houston (Pitcher)
• March 16: Pat Biserta, Rutgers (Hitter); Billy Barber, Richmond (Pitcher)
• March 23: Hunter Morris, Auburn (Hitter); Teddy Kaufman, USF (Pitcher)
• March 30: Mark Castellitto, Gonzaga (Hitter); Randy Fontanez, USF (Pitcher)
• April 6: Austin Wates, Virginia Tech (Hitter); Andrew Barbosa, USF (Pitcher)
• April 13: Steve McQuail, Canisius (Hitter); Greg Gonzalez, Fresno State (Pitcher)
• April 20: Drew Lee, Morehead State (Hitter); Cole Green, Texas (Pitcher)
• April 27: Jake Magner, North Dakota (Hitter); Kendall Lewis, Eastern Michigan (Pitcher)
• May 4: Preston Springer, Wichita State (Hitter); Justin LaTempa, Oregon (Pitcher)
• May 11: Grant Buckner, West Virginia (Hitter); Kyle Blair, San Diego (Pitcher)
• May 18: Tony Nix, UC Riverside (Hitter); C.J. Huyett, Old Dominion (Pitcher)
• May 25: Darnell Sweeney, UCF (Hitter); Andrew Foushee, Presbyterian (Pitcher)