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| Graduate Eastern Connecticut State pitcher Nathan Furino, SUNY Cobleskill outfielder Samuel Gutierrez and Freshman Salisbury pitcher Aidan Brinsfield earned NCBWA honors the third week in April. Eastern Connecticut State, SUNY Cobleskill, Salisbury athletics photos |
A nine-inning no-hitter in New England earned the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association NCAA Div. III Pitcher of the Week award for games played April 15-21, while an 18 RBI week and a complete-game, two-hit shutout earned the Hitter and Rookie of the Week awards, respectively.
HITTER OF MONTH
State University of New York College of Agriculture and Technology at Cobleskill (New York) senior outfielder and first baseman Samuel Gutierrez led the Fighting Tigers to six victories in seven North Atlantic Conference contests last week by batting .480 (12-for-25) with 18 RBI, eight runs scored, four home runs, and three doubles. Cobleskill moved to the top of the NAC Western Division standings last week behind Gutierrez’s play. He was 7-for-11 with 11 RBI, five runs scored, and three home runs over three games against State University of New York at Canton and finished the week 5-for-14 with seven RBI, three runs scored, a homer, and two doubles over four games against Eastern Nazarene College (Massachusetts). Gutierrez was the NAC Player of the Week.
Honorable Mention Hitter: Corbin Kinder, Jr., OF, Rhodes College (Tennessee) – Hit .667 (12-for-18) with a 1.389 slugging percentage over four games for the Lynx. Drove in 12 runs on the week behind four homers and a double. Crossed the plate eight times, scoring at least once in each game, and swiped two bases. Kinder was named to D3baseball.com’s Team of the Week and was the Southern Athletic Association Player of the Week.
PITCHER OF MONTH
No. 15 Eastern Connecticut State University graduate student Nathan Furino fired the 14th no-hitter in program history in Tuesday’s 6-0 win over Western Connecticut State University. Furino struck out nine in the nine-inning shutout, which also marked his first career complete game. Furino needed 103 pitches for the no-hitter. He struck out the side in the eighth inning and no ball left the infield during the final three outs in the ninth. Furino was named to D3baseball.com’s Team of the Week and was the Little East Conference Pitcher of the Week.
Honorable Mention Pitcher: Trent Johnson, Jr., Hope College (Michigan) – Pitched two complete games on the week, including a five-hit, seven-inning shutout against The University of Olivet on Monday. Scattered five hits in the shutout and struck out seven. Followed that up with a complete-game eight-hitter against Albion College on Saturday and struck out nine to up the strikeout total to 47 on the year. Johnson was named the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Pitcher of the Week after sporting a 1.29 ERA over 14 innings.
ROOKIE OF MONTH
No. 5 Salisbury University (Maryland) first-year Aidan Brinsfield pitched an eight-inning, complete-game shutout to help the Sea Gulls beat Neumann University (Pennsylvania) on Tuesday. Brinsfield gave up two hits and struck out 10 Knights in his most dominant start of the year. Brinsfield was named to D3baseball.com’s Team of the Week and was the Coast-To-Coast Conference Pitcher of the Week.
2024 DIV. III HITTER, PITCHER, AND ROOKIE OF THE WEEK SELECTIONS
- Month of February: Luke Finn, UT Dallas (Hitter); Wil Wood, Millsaps (Pitcher); Alex Miller, Centenary (Louisiana) (Rookie)
- Games played Feb. 26 – March 3: Dane Jones, LeTourneau (Hitter); Brandon Cassedy, Christopher Newport (Pitcher); JB Landrum, Huntingdon (Rookie)
- Games played March 4-10: Patrick Gillen, Calvin (Hitter); Sayers Collins, ETBU (Pitcher); Greg Pierantoni, Pomona-Pitzer (Rookie)
- Games played March 11-17: Chris Betler, York (Hitter); Nicholas Thompson, Colby (Pitcher); Ian Moser, Eastern Connecticut State (Rookie)
- Games played March 18-24: Jacob Charon, Lawrence (Hitter); Adam Maher, UMass Dartmouth (Pitcher); Harry Middlebrooks, Wilson (Rookie)
- Games played March 25-31: James Murphy, St. John Fisher (Hitter); Michael Hilker Jr., UW-Whitewater (Pitcher); Kyle Baxt, Oberlin (Rookie)
- Games played April 1-7: Mitchell Schroeder, Middlebury (Hitter); Johnny Blake, Dubuque (Pitcher); Logan Eilbacher, Catholic (Rookie)
- Games played April 8-14: Clarence Givhans, MCLA (Hitter); Tyler Reistetter, Merchant Marine (Pitcher); James Sill, Old Westbury (Rookie)
- Games played April 15-21: Samuel Gutierrez, SUNY Cobleskill (Hitter); Nathan Furino, Eastern Connecticut (Pitcher); Aidan Brinsfield, Salisbury (Rookie)
ABOUT THE NCBWA: 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.