Matt Taliercio, Lancaster Bible Lancaster Bible athletics photo

In a rare “double play”, the eighth 2013 NCAA Division III National Hitter and Pitcher of the Week are from the same conference, with North Eastern Athletic Conference Player of the Week Matt Taliercio of Lancaster Bible College and NEAC Pitcher of the Week Derek Slagle of Pennsylvania State University-Harrisburg receiving the honors for April 15-21, as voted on by a panel of D-III members of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.

Taliercio, a junior outfielder from Norwalk, Conn., batted .500 (9-for-18) in six games, including six home runs and two doubles for a whopping 1.611 slugging percentage,  He amassed 11 runs batted in and 10 runs scored, along with three stolen bases. He also walked five times, giving him an on-base percentage of .583.  He opened the week by smashing three home runs, driving in six runs and scoring five in a doubleheader sweep over Cairn on Tuesday. He closed the week by smacking three more long balls during game two of a conference twinbill with Keuka on Saturday, going 5-for-5 with two doubles, five RBI and five runs scored to give the Chargers a 9-5 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth before the Storm rallied for a 10-9 win.  Taliercio’s six dingers on the week gave him a conference-leading nine home runs, while he is also tied for third in RBI (31) and fifth in batting average (.402).

Derek Slagle, Penn State Harrisburg Penn State Harrisburg athletics photo

For a second straight week, there were four no-hitters thrown, and for a second straight week, it took a perfect game to win the pitching award as Slagle, a freshman right-hander from York Haven, Pa., turned the trick in a 3-0 victory over Penn College last Tuesday.  He gave up no hits, no runs and no walks while his team committed no errors to give him the first perfect game in school history and the first no-hitter of any kind.  Slagle also had three strikeouts in the victory, giving him 20 on the year to go along with his 3.00 ERA in four starts.  

Honorable Mention Hitters:  J.J. McDaniel (Shenandoah) - .560 (14-25), 5 doubles, 1 triple, 3 home runs, 13 RBI, 10 runs, 1.200 slugging pct.; Joe Mendez (St. Joseph’s NY) - .692 (9-13), 5 doubles, 1 home run, 13 RBI, 8 runs, 1.308 slugging pct.; Jeff Lynch (Johns Hopkins) - .444 (8-18), 2 doubles, 4 home runs, 11 RBI, 9 runs, 1.222 slugging pct.; Nick Ramagli (Kean) - .562 (9-16), 3 doubles, 1 home run, 7 RBI, 10 runs, 6 stolen bases, .938 slugging pct.; Cole Bagbey (Louisiana College) - .500 (7-14), 2 doubles, 2 home runs, 5 RBI, 3 runs, 1.071 slugging pct.; Michael Liang (Lehman) - .579 (11-19), 3 doubles, 1 home run, 7 RBI, 10 runs, .895 slugging pct.; David Zilnicki (Farmingdale State) - .615 (8-13), 1 RBI, 7 runs, 9 stolen bases, .615 slugging pct.; Sean Gerber (Wisconsin-Stevens Point) - .333 (5-15), 4 home runs, 6 RBI, 6 runs, 1.133 slugging pct.; Pat Thibodeau (Husson) - .517 (15-29), 5 RBI, 12 runs, 11 stolen bases, .533 slugging pct.

Honorable Mention Pitchers: Miles Schuler (Worcester Tech) - 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 7.0 ip, 1 cg (no-hitter), 0 hits, 12 strikeouts; Andrew Arenson (Carthage) - 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 7.0 ip, 1 cg (no-hitter), 0 hits, 10 strikeouts; Zach Finke (Wittenberg) - 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 7.0 ip, 1 cg (no-hitter), 0 hits, 4 strikeouts; Hayden Cleveland (Franklin) - 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 9.0 ip, 1 cg, 2 hits, 15 strikeouts; Patrick Riley (Castleton) - 2-0, 0.69 ERA, 13.0 ip, 10 hits, 7 strikeouts; Kyle Hudson (Spalding) - 2-0, 0.00 ERA, 14.0 ip, 5 hits, 19 strikeouts; Tommy Bergjans (Haverford) - 1-0, 2.00 ERA, 9.0 ip, 1 cg, 18 strikeouts.

2013 NCBWA NCAA Division III National Players of the Week:

Date                      Hitter of the Week                            Pitcher of the Week

Feb. 25-Mar. 3      Josh Rapacz (George Fox)                   Nick Rossmiller (Thiel)
Mar. 4-10              Matt Sheneman (Neumann)                Zach Jones (McDaniel)
Mar. 11-17            Daniel Donohue (Salve Regina)           Nick Rossmiller (Thiel)
                             Jake Mailman (Wentworth Tech) 
Mar. 18-24            Michael Morelli (Mount Saint Mary)      Steven Ramsdell (Allegheny)  
Mar. 25-31            Jonathan Mason (Bridgewater)           Phil Stakely (Trine)  
Apr. 1-7                 Brad Gugliotta (Baldwin Wallace)        Trevor Lubking (Pacific Lutheran)
                              Daniel Paccione (Farmingdale State)   
Apr. 8-14               Ronald Echavarria (SUNY-Purchase)    Ryan Jacobs (Penn State-Behrend)
Apr. 15-21             Matt Taliercio (Lancaster Bible)            Derek Slagle (Penn State-Harrisburg)