DALLAS (NCBWA) – The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association released its weekly NCAA Division II National Players of the Week awards of the season for the period ending March 17. Abilene Christian junior infielder Kyle Giusti is the National Hitter of the Week while Millersville sophomore righthander Chris Murphy is the National Pitcher of the Week.

Kyle Giusti (Santa Fe, Texas) led the Wildcats in hitting last week as ACU went 4-2 at home vs. No. 1 Delta State and No. 24 Incarnate Word. Giusti batted .550 (11-20) with two extra-base hits, seven RBI and four runs. Giusti recorded at least one hit in each game and tied a season high with four hits in the Wildcats’ 12-8 win in game one vs. the Cardinals. One game earlier, he tied his season high with four RBI as the Wildcats coasted to a 10-4 victory over the Statesmen.

Chris Murphy (Newark, Del.) needed only 64 pitches to throw the first perfect game in Division II since 2009 and the first by a PSAC pitcher since 1999. It was only the 18th perfect game in Division II history. Murphy struck out six Clarion batters and of his 64 pitches, 52 were strikes. His perfect game was the first on record at Millersville and came just two starts after throwing a no-hitter against Glenville. He is now the only Marauder to throw two no-hitters in the same season. 

Division II Regional Players of the Week:
• Atlantic: Travis Moore, Winston-Salem State (Hitter); Chris Murphy, Millersville (Pitcher)
• Central: Lewis Baumann, Bemidji State (Hitter); Adam Kramer, Concordia-St. Paul (Pitcher)
• East: Tom Nagy, Bentley (Hitter); Ryan Yernia, Southern Connecticut State (Pitcher)
• Midwest: Anthony Campanella, Grand Valley State (Hitter); Chris Rudenga, Grand Valley State (Pitcher)
• South: Kaleb Barlow, West Florida (Hitter); Jamie Sexton, West Georgia (Pitcher)
• South Central: Kyle Giusti, Abilene Christian (Hitter); Dallas Ponder, Texas A&M-Kingsville (Pitcher)
• Southeast: Bradley Nichols, Newberry (Hitter); Nick Lomascolo, Catawba (Pitcher)
• West: Garrett Schwartz, Sonoma State (Hitter); Andrew Graham, Cal. St.-Stanislaus (Pitcher)

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-America awards, publication and writing contests.

2013 NCBWA Division II Players of the Week:
• Feb. 10: Lee Neumann, Angelo State (Hitter); Nick Fogarty, Valdosta State (Pitcher)
• Feb. 17: Josh Wenger, Concord (Hitter); Ryan Goodbrand, UC San Diego (Pitcher)
• Feb. 24: Connor McCain, Alabama-Huntsville (Hitter); Chris Murphy, Millersville (Pitcher)
• March 3: Dylan Tice, Indiana, Pa. (Hitter); Junior Mendez, Southern New Hampshire (Pitcher)
• March 10: Gioncarlo Brugnoni, Grand Valley State (Hitter); Shane Trattles, Mary (Pitcher)
• March 17: Kyle Giusti, Abilene Christian (Hitter); Chris Murphy, Millersville (Pitcher)
• March 24: Charlie Sharrer, Cal State-East Bay (Hitter); Scott Lieser, St. Cloud State (Pitcher)
• March 31: Colton Little, Colorado Mesa (Hitter); Dylan James, West Texas A&M (Pitcher)
• April 7: Nate Olinger, Colorado Mines (Hitter); Stephen Cooke, Indiana (Pa.) (Pitcher)
• April 14: Ryan Messina, Shepard (Hitter); Dallas Ponder, Texas A&M-Kingsville (Pitcher)
• April 21: Brady Capshaw, Southern Arkansas (Hitter); Robert Frank, St. Thomas Aquanis (Pitcher)
• April 28: Jacob Nelson, Metro State (Hitter); Collin Sherrod, St. Edward's (Pitcher)
• May 5: Zach Bricknell, Young Harris (Hitter); Brian Ernst, East Stroudsburg (Pitcher)