DALLAS (NCBWA) – The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) released its National Player of the Week awards for the period ending April 29. Eastern Kentucky junior catcher Alex Holderbach was named National Hitter of the Week, while Arkansas junior right-handed reliever Barrett Loseke 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.

Holderbach tied the OVC record for home runs in a game with four in his team’s win at Xavier on Wednesday and capped the week with six home runs in four games. For the week the junior hit .471 (8-for-17) with eight runs scored, six home runs, 12 RBI, five walks, a 1.529 slugging percentage and .591 on-base percentage as Eastern Kentucky was 3-1. He also struck out just once in 17 at-bats and extended his streak of reaching base safely to 33 games.

The Fairfield, Ohio, native became just the fifth player in OVC history to hit four home runs in a game, going 4-for-4 with five runs scored and eight RBI in the non-conference win over Xavier. He opened the Jacksonville State series by going 2-for-5 with a home run and three RBI and capped the week by adding two hits, including his sixth home run of the week. Holderbach currently ranks first in the OVC in RBI (1.44/game) and slugging (.718), second in home runs (0.33/game), third in total bases (2.71/game) and 10th in runs (1.04/game) and on-base percentage (.464).

Loseke threw 8.1 scoreless innings combined in three separate appearances out of the bullpen to help the Razorbacks complete an undefeated week, including a win over No. 4 Texas Tech and a sweep of Alabama. For the week, he gave up only two hits, walking four and striking out 17 batters, corralling two saves and earning a win.

On Tuesday, Loseke threw 4.2 perfect innings out of the bullpen against the Red Raiders and struck out a career-high 10 batters. He picked up his second save in as many appearances on Saturday against Alabama, throwing 1.1 innings, only giving up one hit, one walk and striking out two batters, helping Arkansas to the series victory. Loseke came back the next day to garner the win against Alabama after throwing 2.1 innings with just one hit allowed, walking three and striking out five.

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, 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.

2018 NCBWA Division I Players of the Week:
• Feb. 20: Jake Brodt, Santa Clara (Hitter); Nick Sandlin, Southern Miss (Pitcher)
• Feb. 27: Brett Kinneman, N.C. State (Hitter); Joe DeMers, Washington (Pitcher)
• March 6: Luke Heyer, Kentucky (Hitter); Payton Kinney, Omaha (Pitcher)
• March 13: Jacob Rhinesmith, Western Kentucky (Hitter); Casey Mize, Auburn (Pitcher)
• March 20: Joe Genord, USF (Hitter); Griffin Roberts, Wake Forest (Pitcher)
• March 27: Bren Spillane, Illinois (Hitter); Jake Lee, Oakland (Pitcher)
• April 3: Jon Littell, Oklahoma State (Hitter); Colton Eastman, Cal State Fullerton (Pitcher)
• April 10: Connor Pauly, Morehead State (Hitter); Scotty Sunitsch, Washington State (Pitcher)
• April 17: Ross Haffey, Miami, Ohio (Hitter); Noah Zavolas, Harvard (Pitcher)
• April 24: Josh Jung, Texas Tech and Steven Wells, Florida State (Hitter); Connor Van Hoose, Bucknell (Pitcher)
• May 1: Alex Holderbach, Eastern Kentucky (Hitter); Barrett Loseke, Arkansas (Pitcher)
• May 8: Adam Sasser, Georgia (Hitter); Haylen Green, TCU (Pitcher)
• May 15: Will Wilson, N.C. State (Hitter); Luke Heimlich, Oregon State (Pitcher)
• May 22: Will Holland, Auburn (Hitter); Sam Shutes, Toledo (Pitcher)

2018 NCBWA Division I Players of the Month:
• February: Brett Kinneman, N.C. State (Player); Brady Feigl, Ole Miss (Pitcher)
• March: Seth Beer, Clemson (Player); Casey Mize, Auburn (Pitcher)
• April: Alex Holderbach, Eastern Kentucky (Player); Connor Thomas, Georgia Tech (Pitcher)
• May: Cal Raleigh, Florida State (Player); Logan Gilbert, Stetson (Pitcher)