DALLAS (NCBWA) – The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association released the 2018 NCAA Division II National Players of the Week awards for the week ending on April 9. Colorado School of Mines junior catcher Mikey Gangwish is the National Hitter of the Week, while Purdue Northwest junior lefty pitcher Kyle Flessner is the National Pitcher of the Week.

Gangwish, a native of Albuquerque, N.M., was a battering ram at the plate and perfect behind the plate for Mines over the pod weekend. Gangwish's 1.600 slugging percentage was powered by a 4-for-5 performance Sunday against Colorado Mesa where he hit two doubles and two home runs with seven RBI in the Orediggers' 13-10 win. Gangwish finished the weekend without an error or passed ball behind the plate and batted .667 with 10 runs and 13 RBI.

Flessner, a native of Thomasboro, Ill., set a program record Saturday striking out 16 batters in a 5-0 win in game one of a doubleheader with Wayne State at Dowling Park in Hammond, Ind. Flessner earned his first victory over the season (1-2) with the impressive outing, which ended as a one-hit shutout. After striking out 11 of the first 12 batters he faced, Flessner cruised through the first six innings of the Saturday's opener and did not give up a hit until two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning. He also issued one walk in the sixth inning.

Division II Regional Players of the Week:
• Atlantic: Brenton Doyle, Shepherd (W.Va.) (Hitter); Brandon Harris, Charleston (W.Va.) (Pitcher)
• Central: Andres Rios, Arkansas-Monticello (Hitter); Dominic Armstrong, St. Cloud State (Pitcher)
• East: Adam Chase, Franklin Pierce (Hitter); Dylan Lawrence, Concordia (N.Y.) (Pitcher)
• Midwest: Connor Barleben, Ashland (Hitter); Kyle Flessner, Purdue Northwest (Pitcher)
• South: Zach Shannon, Delta State (Hitter); J.T. Hintzen, Florida Southern (Pitcher)
• South Central: Mikey Gangwish, Colorado School of Mines (Hitter); Danny Honorof, Colorado State-Pueblo (Pitcher)
• Southeast: Chance Bowden, Catawba (Hitter); Christian Aragon, South Carolina-Aiken (Pitcher)
• West: Josh Lenney, Sonoma State (Hitter); Trevor Abshire, Point Loma (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.

2018 NCBWA Division II Players of the Week:
• Week ending Feb. 19: Austin Norman, Fairmont State (Hitter); Dillon Cate, Carson-Newman (Pitcher)
• Week ending Feb. 26: Chance Bowden, Catawba (Hitter); Jumpei Akanuma, Lee University (Pitcher)
• Week ending March 5: Andrew Taft, LeMoyne (Hitter); Dan Wirchansky, Pace (Pitcher)
• Week ending March 12: Francisco Rodriguez, Tarleton State (Hitter); Kyle Leahy, Colorado Mesa (Pitcher)
• Week ending March 19: Zack Shannon, Delta State (Hitter); Josh Gaworski, Concordia-St. Paul (Pitcher)
• Week ending March 26: Nick Atkinson, Shepherd (Hitter); Adam Riggleman, Glenville State (Pitcher)
• Week ending April 2: Matt Honeycutt, Mars Hill (Hitter); Dalton Morrow, Southwest Baptist (Pitcher)
• Week ending April 9: Mikey Gangwish, Colorado School of Mines (Hitter); Kyle Flessner, Purdue Northwest (Pitcher)
• Week ending April 16: Ted DeSanti, Indiana, Pa. (Hitter); Ryan Murphy, LeMoyne (Pitcher)
• Week ending April 23: Griffin Baker, Belmont Abbey (Hitter); Clay Casey, Delta State (Pitcher)
• Week ending April 30: Mondesi Gutierrez, Northwest Missouri State (Hitter); Grant Wolfram, Davenport (Pitcher)