MORGANTOWN, W. VA. (NCBWA) – The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association has named its Dick Howser Trophy Players of the Month for March presented by The Game Headwear, tabbing Texas first baseman Ivan Melendez as player of the month and Tennessee right-hander Drew Beam as pitcher of the month.

Melendez, a native of El Paso, Texas, is in the midst of a historic offensive season. During 17 games in March, he hit .473 (35-for-74) with 14 runs, six doubles, two triples, 11 home runs and 29 RBI. He had a 15-9 walk-strikeout ratio, a 1.054 slugging and a .565 on-base percentage.

In 2022, Melendez ranks tied for second in the nation with 14 homers, batting .387 (43-for-11) with nine doubles, two triples and 40 RBI. He has scored 36 runs and owns a 29-27 walk-strikeout ratio, slugging .856 and reaching base at a .521 clip.

A freshman out of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Beam went 4-0 with a 1.40 ERA in his four starts in March. He worked 25 2/3 innings, allowing only nine hits and four runs, walking just three and striking out 20. He tossed five shutout innings in a win over Oklahoma to open the month before closing nonconference play with a win over Rhode Island. He opened league play by going 7 2/3 shutout innings in the Vols’ win over South Carolina and worked 7 1/3 innings in a win at No. 1 Ole Miss on March 27, allowing just one run. Beam kept the streak going in a monster weekend at No. 3 Vanderbilt, tossing a complete-game shutout with just two hits allowed in Nashville.

On the year, Beam has a 6-0 record and a 0.88 ERA in seven starts, allowing only 13 hits and four runs in 41 innings.

This marks the seventh consecutive year that the NCBWA has honored a 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, ncbwa.com.

2022 Dick Howser Trophy National Players of the Week:
• Week ending Feb. 20: Tommy White, NC State (Hitter); Hunter Barco, Florida (Pitcher)
• Week ending Feb. 27: Jake Gelof, Virginia and Trey Lipscomb, Tennessee (Hitter); Chazz Martinez, Oklahoma (Pitcher)
• Week ending March 6: Nathan Chong, Saint Mary's (Hitter); Sean Bergeron, Western Kentucky and Thatcher Hurd, UCLA (Pitcher)
• Week ending March 13: Daniel Susac, Arizona (Hitter); Parker Stinnett, Mississippi State (Pitcher)
• Week ending March 20: Jacob Wilson, Grand Canyon (Hitter); Gabriel Hughes, Gonzaga (Pitcher)
• Week ending March 27: Josh Hatcher, Kennesaw State and Christopher Sargent, Southern Miss (Hitter); Drew Thorpe, Cal Poly (Pitcher)
• Week ending April 2: Joey Walls, UNLV (Hitter); Drew Beam, Tennesssee and Cooper Hjerpe, Oregon State (Pitcher)
• Week ending April 9: Ryan Cermak, Illinois State and Matt Higgins, Bellarmine (Hitter); Graham Laubscher, St. Thomas and Cooper Rawls, Louisiana (Pitcher)
• Week ending April 16: Matt Coutney, Old Dominion (Hitter); Parker Messick, Florida State (Pitcher)
• Week ending April 23: Max Wagner, Clemson and Ryan Gaudino, Tennessee Tech (Hitter); Ben Seiler, Siena and Shemar Page, Grambling (Pitcher)
• Week ending April 30: David McCabe, Charlotte and Ryan Lasko, Rutgers (Hitter); Ryan Ramsey, Maryland (Pitcher)
• Week ending May 8: Ivan Melendez, Texas (Hitter); Juaron Watts-Brown, Long Beach State (Pitcher)

2022 Dick Howser Trophy National Players of the Month:
• February: Tommy White, NC State (Hitter); Bryce Hubbard, Florida State (Pitcher)
• March: Ivan Melendez, Texas (Hitter); Drew Beam, Tennessee (Pitcher)
• April: Matt Coutney, Old Dominion (Hitter); Parker Messick, Florida State (Pitcher)