DALLAS (NCBWA) – The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association released its National Player of the Week awards for the period ending March 23. William & Mary junior infielder Michael Katz was named National Hitter of the Week, while Stony Brook senior right-handed pitcher Frankie Vanderka 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.  

Katz	Vanderka

Katz had another strong week for the Tribe leading the team in average at .750 (9-for-12). He collected two doubles, three homers, 12 RBIs, and nine runs scored. The Falls Church, Va., native finished the week with a .765 on-base-percentage, and 1.667 slugging-percentage. He also had 28 putouts, one assist, and zero errors.

Against Longwood on Wednesday, Katz went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI. On Friday, Katz piled up four hits, had his third multi-home run game of the season, and had five RBI to go along with a walk and three runs scored. In his weekend finale, the junior went 3-for-3, with a double, home run, two walks, and five RBI. He ranks second in the conference in average (.408), while he leads the conference in home runs (12), and RBIs (47).

Vanderka pitched his third career no-hitter to lead Stony Brook to a 7-0 victory in game one of Saturday's doubleheader with Albany. The no-hitter was his second complete game shutout of the season. The Levittown, N.Y., native limited Albany to three base runners, two walks and a hit-by-pitch, and struck out 10 batters, including four of the first six batters he faced. He fanned Albany's Brian Bullard in the ninth inning for the final out of the no-hitter. He now has no-hitters against NJIT (March 18, 2011), Fordham (March 10, 2013) and Albany (March 22, 2014).

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 I National Players of the Week, contact NCBWA Assistant Executive Director Mike Montoro at West Virginia University at 304-293-2821.

2014 NCBWA Division I Players of the Week:
• Feb. 16: Skyler Ewing, Rice (Hitter); Jeremy Null, East Carolina (Pitcher)
• Feb. 23: A.J. Reed, Kentucky (Hitter); Reed Garrett, VMI (Pitcher)
• March 2: Ryan Seiz, Liberty (Hitter); Jake Stinnett, Maryland (Pitcher)
• March 9: Mac James, Oklahoma (Hitter); Javi Salas, Miami (Pitcher)
• March 16: Nic Wilson, Georgia State (Hitter); Heath Dwyer, VCU (Pitcher)
• March 23: Michael Katz, William & Mary (Hitter); Frankie Vanderka, Stony Brook (Pitcher)
• March 30: Clint Freeman, East Tennessee State (Hitter); Matt Imhof, Cal Poly (Pitcher)
• April 6: A.J. Reed, Kentucky (Hitter); Nathan Kirby, Virginia (Pitcher)
• April 13: Mitchell Tolman, Oregon (Hitter); Jordan Carter, St. Joseph's (Pitcher)
• April 20: Byron Campbell, UMES (Hitter); Jeff Hoffman, East Carolina (Pitcher)
• April 27: Auston Bausfield, Ole Miss (Hitter); Thomas Eshelman, Cal State Fullerton (Pitcher)
• May 4: Casey Turgeon, Florida (Hitter); Jace Fry, Oregon State (Pitcher)
• May 11: Connor McVey, Cincinnati (Hitter); Matt Fraudin, Gardner-Webb (Pitcher)
• May 18: Kane Sweeney, Morehead State (Hitter); Ben Wetzler, Oregon State (Pitcher)