DALLAS (NCBWA) – The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association has named Louisville two-way star Brendan McKay its National Player of the Month and LSU senior southpaw Jared Poché the National Pitcher of the Month for February.

A native of Darlington, Pa., McKay had a prolific month of February, both at the plate and on the mound as UofL's Friday-night ace. Over the course of the seven-game month, McKay hit .619 (13-for-21) with a double, three homers and 11 RBI. He drew six walks and was hit by two pitches, striking out just once. In two Friday-night starts, McKay posted wins and a 0.82 ERA in 11 innings. He allowed only six hits and four walks, striking out 14.

In his career, McKay has a 23-7 record and a 1.99 ERA on the mound with four saves and 259 strikeouts over 217.1 innings. At the plate, McKay has hit .340 in his career with 159 hits, 34 doubles, 14 homers and 89 RBI, sporting a .951 OPS. A consensus first-team All-America selection in 2016, McKay is the two-time winner of the John Olerud 2-Way Player of the Year Award. This marks the second consecutive February that McKay has earned NCBWA monthly honors, winning the National Pitcher of the Month accolade in February of 2016.

Poché, a native of Luchter, La., made history in his first two starts to open his senior season. Poche' won both his starts, against Army and Maryland, without allowing a run, surrendering just one hit and two walks, striking out 10 in 15 innings. In his season debut, Poche' worked a dazzling seven-inning no hitter. He didn't allow a walk and fanned four in the first LSU no-hitter since 1979, also a seven-inning no-hitter. In his next start, Poche' carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning before allowing an infield single to leadoff the inning with the lefty at 98 pitches. Poche' now owns 30 wins in his decorated LSU career, winning nine games in each of his first three seasons. Poche’ is 3-0 in 2017 over 22 innings, allowing only four hits – three singles – and two walks.

This marks the second season the NCBWA has honored a national player and pitcher of the month.

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.

2017 NCBWA Division I Players of the Week:
• Feb. 21: Andrew Kendrick, Youngstown State (Hitter); Jared Poché, LSU and Robbie Welhaf, Elon (Pitcher)
• Feb. 28: Brent Rooker, Mississippi State (Hitter); Justin Dillon, Sacramento State (Pitcher)
• March 7: Chase Lunceford, Louisiana Tech (Hitter); Danny Hrbek, Radford and Parker Rigler, Kansas State (Pitcher)
• March 14: Connor Smith, Western Michigan (Hitter); Eli Morgan, Gonzaga (Pitcher)
• March 21: Jake Scheiner, Houston (Hitter); John Gavin, Cal State Fullerton (Pitcher)
• March 28: Matt Lloyd, Indiana (Hitter); Cory Abbott, Loyola Marymount (Pitcher)
• April 4: Keaton Kringlen, BYU (Hitter); Alex Cunningham, Coastal Carolina (Pitcher)
• April 11: Brent Rooker, Mississippi State (Hitter); Michael Grove, West Virginia (Pitcher)
• April 18: Stuart Fairchild, Wake Forest (Hitter); Kyle Wright, Vanderbilt (Pitcher)
• April 25: Dylan Busby, Florida State (Hitter); Alex Faedo, Florida (Pitcher)
• May 2: Hunter Hargrove, Texas Tech (Hitter); David Peterson, Oregon (Pitcher)
• May 9: Dan Kerwin, UT Martin (Hitter); Trevor Stephan, Arkansas (Pitcher)
• May 16: Jared Barnes, South Alabama (Hitter); Zach Prendergast, Seton Hall (Pitcher)
• May 23: Kevin Milam, St. Mary's (Hitter); Cole Bartlett, Missouri (Pitcher)

2017 NCBWA Division I Players of the Month:
• February: Brendon McKay, Lousiville (Hitter); James Poché, LSU (Pitcher)
• March: Brent Rooker, Mississippi State (Hitter); David Peterson, Oregon (Pitcher)
• April: Drew Ellis, Louisville (Hitter); Jake Thompson, Oregon State (Pitcher)
• May: Chris Carrier, Memphis (Hitter); Trey Cumbie, Houston (Pitcher)