FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) released the Pro-Line Athletic National Player of the Week awards for the period ending May 3, today. George Mason junior first baseman Justin Bour was named National Hitter of the Week, while Ohio State sophomore right-handed pitcher Alex Wimmers 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.
Bour batted .500 (11-for-22) with three home runs, nine runs scored and 14 RBI in George Mason’s 4-1 week. The Centreville, Va., native hit .583 and drove in 10 in the Patriots’ three-game sweep of Northeastern that clinched the No. 1 seed for the CAA Tournament. For the season, Bour is hitting .346 with 16 HR and 60 RBIs.
Wimmers recorded the Big Ten’s second no-hitter of the season and the first nine-inning no-no in Ohio State school history by blanking Michigan in Game two of a doubleheader on Saturday. The Cincinnati, Ohio, native registered 14 strikeouts in the outing, marking his sixth performance with double-digit Ks this season. The right-hander walked four batters in the game, but faced just one over the minimum as catcher Dan Burkhart, Wimmers’ grade-school and high-school teammate and friend, gunned down three would-be base-stealers.
The performance gives Wimmers a Big Ten-leading 103 strikeouts on the season, making him just the ninth Buckeye in program history to top 100 Ks in a year. In addition to leading the conference in strikeouts, Wimmers also paces the Big Ten in opponents’ batting average (.193) and ranks among the conference’s best in ERA (2.71) innings pitched (80.2) and wins (8).
Fort Worth-based Pro-Line Athletic supplies the official cap to more than 100 Division I college teams and official uniforms and team wear to six Division 1 college teams. This is the fifth season Pro-Line has sponsored the NCBWA’s Players of the Week. The sponsorship provides for plaques to be awarded to each of the weekly winners and other promotional consideration. For more information about Pro-Line, visit their Web site at: www.prolineathletic.com.
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, www.ncbwa.com.
For more information, contact NCBWA Assistant Executive Director Mike Montoro (304-293-2821, mike.montoro@mail.wvu.edu).
2009 WINNERS:
Pro-Line Athletic Hitter of the Week – Feb. 24 – Chris Karsten, Louisiana Tech; March 3 – Kent Matthes, Alabama; March 10 – Daniel Hill, Murray State; March 17 – Digger Towe, UAB; March 24 – Kyle Roller – East Carolina; March 31 – Rich Poythress, Georgia; April 7 – Brett Nommensen, Eastern Illinois; April 14 – Juan Martinez, Oral Roberts; April 21 – Derek McCallum, Minnesota; April 28 – Shane Brown, UCF, Jesse Sawyer, South Dakota State; May 5 – Justin Bour – George Mason
Pro-Line Athletic Pitcher of the Week – Feb. 24 – Shaeffer Hall, Kansas; March 3 – Ryan Berry, Rice and Brandon Workman, Texas; March 10 – Wade Kapteyn, Evansville; March 17 – Kyle Gibson, Missouri; March 24 – Stephen Strasburg, San Diego State; March 31 – Cody Wheeler, Coastal Carolina; April 7 – Nolan Moody, Michigan State; April 14 – Brad Stillings, Kent State; April 21 – Alex White, North Carolina; April 28 – J.T. Ross, Northeastern; May 5 – Alex Wimmers – Ohio State
