DALLAS (NCBWA) – The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association released its National Player of the Week awards for the period ending April 19. Arkansas sophomore outfielder Andrew Benintendi was named National Hitter of the Week, while Maryland sophomore RHP Mike Shawaryn 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.

Benintendi hit .444 in five games last week, leading Arkansas to a 4-1 mark as it handed consensus No. 1 Texas A&M its first series loss of the year. He reached base in each of his final nine plate appearances against the Aggies to finish the week with a .444 batting average and a .583 on-base percentage. Benintendi also scored 10 runs in the five games.

Currently the nation’s leader in home runs, Benintendi took to the long ball in midweek action, recording his 14th homer of the year last Wednesday against Stephen F. Austin to take over sole possession of the home run race. He has hit seven of his 14 home runs in the last 13 games. After a perfect 7-for-7 week in stolen bases, including four against Texas A&M, Benintendi now ranks third in the SEC with 19 stolen bases on the year in just 22 attempts.

Shawaryn dominated Cal State Fullerton, striking out 13 batters over eight shutout innings. His 13 strikeouts marked a new career high and he did not walk a batter. The Carneys Point, N.J., native’s victory tied him with John Rayne (1989-92) for Maryland’s all-time career wins record. Shawaryn’s 20 career wins represent the most for any sophomore in the country. This season, the sophomore leads the nation in wins with nine and is tops in the Big Ten in strikeouts with 82.

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.

2015 NCBWA Division I Players of the Week:
• Feb. 15: Eric Gutierrez, Texas Tech (Hitter); Luke Gillingham, Navy (Pitcher)
• Feb. 22: KJ Harrison, Oregon State (Hitter); Preston Morrison, TCU (Pitcher)
• March 1: Braden Bishop, Washington (Hitter); Alex Robinett, Army (Pitcher)
• March 8: Dante Flores, USC (Hitter); Carson Cross, Connecticut (Pitcher)
• March 15: David Thompson, Miami (Hitter); Chris Chism, Tennessee Tech (Pitcher)
• March 22: DJ Stewart, Florida State (Hitter); Drew Rasmussen, Oregon State (Pitcher)
• March 29: Chris Shaw, Boston College (Hitter); James McMahon, Southern Miss (Pitcher)
• April 5: Christin Stewart, Tennessee (Hitter); James Reeves, The Citadel (Pitcher)
• April 12: JJ Schwarz, Florida (Hitter); Anthony Kay, Connecticut (Pitcher)
• April 26: Kevin Kaczmarski, Evansville (Hitter); Kevin Hill, South Alabama (Pitcher)
• May 5: Clayton Meyer, Morehead State and Bryce Greager, Nevada (Hitter); Matt Hall, Missouri State (Pitcher)
• May 12: Jeff Boehm, UIC (Hitter); Thomas Eshelman, Cal State Fullerton (Pitcher)
• May 19: Tyler Lawrence, Murray State (Hitter); James Kaprielian, UCLA (Pitcher)