MORGANTOWN, W. VA. (NCBWA) – The National Collegiate Baseball
Writers Association (NCBWA) released its Dick Howser Trophy National
Player of the Week awards presented by The Game Headwear for the
period ending April 24. Clemson sophomore infielder Max Wagner and
Tennessee Tech junior outfielder Ryan Guardino were named
National
Co-Hitters of the Week, while Siena senior left-hander
Ben Seiler
and Grambling graduate student left-handed pitcher Shemar Page were
named National Co-Pitchers of the Week. The NCBWA Board reviews
candidates from each Division I Conference and names winners each
Tuesday throughout the season.
Wagner had one of the best slugging weeks in school history by
going 8-for-19 (.421) with six home runs, one double, 10 RBIs, eight
runs, three walks against only one strikeout, a 1.421 slugging percentage
and .500 on-base percentage in leading Clemson to a 4-1 record,
four of which were games against top-10 teams.
On Tuesday at No. 10 Georgia, the Green Bay, Wisconsin native,
hit a homer in Clemson's 8-4 win. Then he hit a homer against East
Tennessee State on Wednesday. In the three-game series against No.
9 Florida State, he hit four home runs in the first two games. With
Clemson trailing 4-2 on Friday, he hit a grand slam on an 0-2 pitch,
his second long ball of the game, in the eighth inning to give the
Tigers a 6-4 win. On Saturday, he hit two home runs for the second
game in a row, upping his homer streak to five consecutive games,
tying a school record. On Sunday, he added a double off the wall
in Clemson's series-clinching win.
Guardino was a force at the plate for the Golden Eagles all weekend,
making program history by smacking seven home runs in a three-game
span at UT Martin. Tying the program's single-game home run record
with three round-trippers on Saturday, the Santa Barbara, California,
native, also became the first Tech player with multiple dingers
in three straight games and recorded the most long balls over a
three-game span in school history.
He hit a robust .588 while slugging 1.824 and driving in 11 during
the week, scoring 10 times and striking out just once. He opened
the weekend series with a 4-for-4 at the dish, smacking two dingers,
driving in four runs, and scoring three runs.
In Saturday's contest, Guardino became just the 11th Golden Eagle
to hit three round-trippers in one game as part of a 4-for-6 performance.
He drove in five more runs and scored four times. The right-fielder
wrapped things up with two more bombs, two RBI and three runs scored
on Sunday.
Seiler had to settle for a no-decision, despite his nine remarkable
innings of work. The Albany, New York native, tallied his record
19th strikeout on his 152nd and final pitch to send the game to
extras for just the second time all season – and second time in
as many days - in the series-opener Friday.
Seiler now holds two of the three highest single-game strikeout
totals nationally so far this season. His 19 strikeouts broke the
previous single-game high of 17 set by Oregon State's Cooper Hjerpe
on April 1 vs. Stanford. Earlier this season, Seiler set a then
career-high with 16 strikeouts in a Mar. 27 victory over Saint Peter's,
which is now tied with two others for the third highest single-game
mark in the country in 2022.
Page threw just 84 pitches in a perfect game, collecting a season
and career-high 13 strikeouts in the process, as the Tigers won
their third consecutive SWAC game and 11th straight over Alcorn
State with a 16-0 victory in seven innings.
The Laurel, Mississippi native, was in cruise control from the
start, striking out the first two batters in the game. He retired
four consecutive Alcorn State batters between the third and fourth
innings in picking up his fifth victory over the season.
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 Dick Howser Trophy and the NCBWA
Division I National Players of the Week, contact NCBWA Assistant
Executive Director
Mike Montoro
at West Virginia University at 304-293-2821.
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 Guardino, 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) •
Week ending May 15: Matt Shaw, Maryland (Hitter);
Max Rajcic, UCLA (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)
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