DALLAS (NCBWA) – The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association released its first NCAA Division II National Players of the Week awards for the week ending on Sunday, Feb. 6. For the first week of the 2022 season, Nova Southeastern sophomore designated hitter Duncan Pastore is the National Hitter of the Week and Fresno Pacific junior righty Justin Fuson is the National Pitcher of the Week.

Pastore (Tampa, Fla./Wharton HS) slashed .800/.867/1.700 in NSU's opening weekend series to earn Sunshine State Conference Player of the Week honors. He went 8-for-10 at the plate, with five extra-base hits, eight runs scored, nine runs batted in, three walks, and two hit by pitch. The infielder swiped a pair of bases on his way to 17 total bases in NSU's three-game set. Pastore's top game of the week saw him go 4-for-4 at the plate against No. 20 Catawba, with a home run, two doubles, three runs scored, and five runs batted in. With the play of Pastore, the Sharks defeated Catawba, Washburn, and Wheeling to start 3-0.

Fuson (Fresno, Calif./San Joaquin Memorial HS) opened the season with his 11th career win and was a memorable one for the Fresno native. He threw a seven-inning no-hitter with 11 strikeouts at home against Western Oregon, which finished runner-up in the NCAA West Regional last year. Fuson only permitted four base runners in the no-hitter with three walks and one hit batsmen. Fuson faced only 10 batters in the first three innings and struck out the side in the third inning to push his strikeout tally up to six. He struck out two batters each in the fourth and sixth innings to move within three outs of a no-hitter. Fuson never allowed a runner to reach scoring position in the game, striking out 11 of the first 20 batters faced. In the final inning, he got a groundout and flyout to move within one out of completing the no-hitter. After a walk, he induced a grounder to shortstop and Cole Yoshida flipped to second for the final out.

Division II Regional Players of the Week:
• Atlantic: Jake Mastillo, Lock Haven (Hitter); Colt Webb, Charleston (Pitcher)
• Central: No Nominees
• East: No Nominees
• Midwest: No Nominees
• South: Duncan Pastore, Nova Southeastern (Hitter); Nathan Madej, Florida Southern (Pitcher)
• South Central: Matt Kissamis, Texas A&M-International (Hitter); Tyler Blomster, Colorado School of Mines (Pitcher)
• Southeast: Michael Dansky, Wingate (Hitter); Alex Hart, Barton College (Pitcher)
• West: Willie Lajoie, Chico State (Hitter); Justin Fuson, Fresno Pacific (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.

2022 NCBWA Division II Players of the Week:
• Week ending Feb. 6: Duncan Pastore, Nova Southeastern (Hitter); Justin Fuson, Fresno Pacific (Pitcher)
• Week ending Feb. 13: Harrison Rodgers, Colorado Mesa (Hitter); Jack O'Brien, Hawaii Pacific (Pitcher)
• Week ending Feb. 20: Brock Reller, Northeastern State (Hitter); Jeremy Adorno, Southern Arkansas (Pitcher)
• Week ending Feb. 27: Zion Pettigrew, Illinois-Springfield (Hitter); Dominic Proietto, Kutztown (Pitcher)
• Week ending March 6: Lewis Beals, Hillsdale (Hitter); Dylan Miller, Point Loma (Pitcher)
• Week ending March 13: Kade Self, Oklahoma Baptist (Hitter); Kannon Handy, Colorado Mesa (Pitcher)
• Week ending March 20: Sean Johnson, Belmont Abbey (Hitter); Lawson Isaacs, Central Oklahoma (Pitcher)
• Week ending March 27: Drey Dirksen, Augustana (Hitter); Mason Philley, Arkansas-Monticello (Pitcher)
• Week ending April 3: Enzo Bonventre, Southwestern Oklahoma State (Hitter); Brody McCullough, Wingate (Pitcher)
• Week ending April 10: Brennen van Breusegen, Central Missouri (Hitter); Dylan Brosky, California, Pa. (Pitcher)
• Week ending April 17: Caleb Stubbings, Colorado-Colorado Springs (Hitter); Colt Webb, Charleston (Pitcher)
• Week ending April 24: Joey Polak, Maryville (Hitter); Luke Tupy, St. Cloud State (Pitcher)
• Week ending May 1: Ben Gobbel, Belmont Abbey (Hitter); Jack Gonzales, Point Loma (Pitcher)
• Week ending May 8: Luke Folsom, Colorado School of Mines (Hitter); Thomas Jones, Rockhurst (Pitcher)