DALLAS (NCBWA) – The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association released its National Player of the Month awards for February today. Southern Miss sophomore third baseman Taylor Braley was named National Hitter of the Month, while Louisville sophomore left-hander Brendon McKay was named National Pitcher of the Month. Braley and McKay are the recipients of the first Player of the Month honors given by the NCBWA, which reviewed candidates submitted by conferences and schools.

Braley	McKay

Braley has started the season on a tear, homering five times in Southern Miss’ first seven games – two more blasts than he had in all of 2015 – and posting a seven-game hitting streak. He boasts a .480 batting average, 12 RBI and 10 runs, a 1.160 slugging percentage and a .618 on-base mark to lead the Golden Eagles to a perfect 7-0 start. He homered in each game to lead Southern Miss to a three–game sweep of Eastern Illinois on opening weekend and finished last weekend’s series against Northwestern State with dingers in each of the last two contests.

McKay, one of the top two-way players in the nation, has been nearly untouchable to start 2016. The Darlington, Pennsylvania, native boasts a perfect 0.00 ERA in 14 innings across two starts, including a three-hit shutout at No. 21 Ole Miss on Feb. 27. McKay was named ACC Pitcher of the Week for that performance, where he struck out eight Rebels and didn’t issue a walk while extending his scoreless innings streak to 19.0, which dates back to 2015. McKay has 16 strikeouts and only four walks on the season, and has allowed just six hits in 14 innings for a .136 opponent batting average.

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 Month, contact NCBWA Assistant Executive Director Mike Montoro at West Virginia University at 304-293-2821.

2016 NCBWA Division I Players of the Week:
• Feb. 21: Jeren Kendall, Vanderbilt (Hitter); Zach Muckenhirn, North Dakota (Pitcher)
• Feb. 28: Brandon Gutzler, Murray State (Hitter); Logan Shore, Florida (Pitcher)
• March 6: Darik Hall, Dallas Baptist (Hitter); Lucas Humpal, Texas State (Pitcher)
• March 13: Joe Cronin, Boston College (Hitter); Jesse Scholtens, Wright State (Pitcher)
• March 20: John Jones, South Carolina (Hitter); Seth Romero, Houston (Pitcher)
• March 27: Tyler Chadwick, Coastal Carolina (Hitter); Ryan Hingst, Arizona State (Pitcher)
• April 5: Tanner Kirwer, Niagara (Hitter); Andrew Wantz, UNCG (Pitcher)
• April 12: Michael Davis, Texas Tech (Hitter); Zac Gallen, North Carolina (Pitcher)
• April 19: Greg Guers, Penn State (Hitter); Shane McCarthy, Seton Hall (Pitcher)
• April 26: Logan Gray, Austin Peay (Hitter); Cody Sedlock, Illinois (Pitcher)
• May 3: J.B Woodman, Ole Miss (Hitter); Chad Donato, West Virginia (Pitcher)
• May 10: Brandon Soat, IPFW (Hitter); Kyle Simonds, Texas A&M (Pitcher)
• May 17: Blake Benefield, Middle Tennessee (Hitter); Eric Lauer, Kent State (Pitcher)
• May 24: Dillon Cooper, Alabama State (Hitter); Sam Perez, Missouri State (Pitcher)

2016 NCBWA Division I Players of the Month:
• February: Taylor Braley, Southern Miss (Hitter); Brendon McKay, Lousiville (Pitcher)
• March: Seth Beer, Clemson (Hitter); Seth Romero, Houston and Clarke Schmidt, South Carolina (Pitcher)
• April: Hunter Melton, Texas A&M (Hitter); Will Hibbs, Lamar (Pitcher)
• May: Daniel Johnson, New Mexico State (Hitter); Dakota Hudson, Mississippi State (Pitcher)