NCBWA hands out weekly honors

A Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference hitter matched a NCAA Div. III record with four home runs in a single game, while an Upper Midwest Athletic Conference pitcher came a strikeout shy of matching the single-game Div. III record. Those performances, plus nine no-hit innings spanning two outings by a Great Northeast Athletic Conference rookie earned this week’s National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Div. III honors. This seventh selections in 2022 were chosen based on games April 4-10.

  D3baseball.com Team of the Week

Earlham Catcher-Designated Hitter Andrew Bradley
Earlham athletics photo

HITTER OF WEEK

Earlham College (Indiana) junior designated hitter Andrew Bradley logged the 19th four-home run game in NCAA Div. III history on April 6 against Defiance College (Ohio). Bradley hit a pair of two-run shots during Earlham’s 11-run first inning, then had a solo shot and a grand slam during a 10-run third. Bradley finished the 40-7 rout 4-for-5 with 10 RBI and five runs scored, and he was lifted for a pinch hitter in the sixth inning. On the week, the HCAC Hitting Athlete of the Week went 10-for-16 (.625) with six home runs and 15 RBI en route to helping Earlham to a 3-1 week in HCAC play. He slugged 1.875 and hit two doubles.

Honorable Mention Hitter: Jacob Matzat, Sr., INF, University of Rochester (New York) – Liberty League Performer of the Week after helping Yellowjackets to a 4-0 record. The senior designated hitter batted .650 (13-for-20) with 10 extra base hits, including four doubles, two triples, and four home runs. He added 16 RBI, 10 runs scored, and produced a slugging percentage of 1.650. Matzat went 5-for-6 and hit for the cycle in Rochester’s 18-10 win over Clarkson University (New York) on Saturday. Matzat matched a program record set in 1951 with nine RBI in the 18-10 win. He raised his season batting average from .308 to .457 during the week.

PITCHER OF WEEK

University of Northwestern, St. Paul (Minnesota) junior left-hander Owen Boerema set a single-game school record with 21 strikeouts during Saturday’s 5-0 nine-inning win over Crown College (Minnesota). The UMAC Pitcher of the Week’s strikeouts are one off the NCAA Div. III record and are the most in a NCAA baseball game – Div. I, II, or III – this spring. Boerema’s 21-strikeout game marked the first time a Div. III pitcher had at least 20 strikeouts in a game since Muhlenberg College’s (Pennsylvania) Matthew D’Ambrosia struck out 21 Lesley University (Massachusetts) hitters on March 6, 2020. Boerema allowed just two hits in his complete-game shutout.

Honorable Mention Pitcher: Josh Wintroub, Sr., Augustana College (Illinois) – College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Pitcher of the Week following a seven-inning no-hitter on Sunday. Wintroub struck out 14 batters en route to improving to 5-0 on the season. Augustana beat Cornell College (Iowa) 10-0.

ROOKIE OF WEEK

Anna Maria College (Massachusetts) right-hander Nick Choate was unbelievable on Sunday in a 15-0 win over Rivier University (New Hampshire). Choate, who was making his first career start, pitched five flawless innings and struck out five as the AMCATS delivered a combined perfect game, a first in program history. For the week, the rookie went 2-0 with 14 strikeouts over nine shutout innings. He did not allow a hit on the week, thanks to four hitless innings of relief in Anna Maria’s 7-3 win over Albertus Mangus College (Connecticut) on Tuesday.

2022 WINNERS

  • Month of February: Jack Thomson, Lewis & Clark (Hitter); Sayers Collins, East Texas Baptist (Pitcher); Andrew Gryniewicz, Lesley (Rookie)
  • Week ending March 6: Blake Bean, Kalamazoo (Hitter), Dominic Perachi, Salve Regina (Pitcher), Aiden Murphy, Wilkes (Rookie)
  • Week ending March 13: Joe Jimenez, Texas Lutheran (Hitter); Mick Schiattarella, Stockton (Pitcher); Anthony Runfola, Haverford (Rookie)
  • Week ending March 20: Mike Khoury, Brandeis (Hitter), Kieren Collins, Johns Hopkins (Pitcher); Joe Morrissey, Washington College (Rookie)
  • Week ending March 27: Kamden Earley, Wabash (Hitter); Dalton Glenn, Buena Vista (Pitcher); Tyler Herrera, Centenary (La.) (Rookie)
  • Week ending April 3: Luke Broadhurst, Eastern Connecticut State, (Hitter); Ismael Tatis, John Jay (Pitcher); Samuel Palmer (Westfield State)
  • Week ending April 10: Andrew Bradley, Earlham (Hitter); Owen Boerema, Northwestern (Minn.) (Pitcher); Nick Choate, Anna Maria (Rookie)

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 Dick Howser Player of the Year Award, Regional Player of the Year, and NCBWA All-America voting. The NCBWA also sponsors preseason All-America awards, publication contests, and writing contests.