Luke Heimlich was incredible last Friday against Stanford striking out a career high 14 batters. He also has 32 career wins at Oregon State...now just four behind another lefty Ben Wetzler. Here is the official news release from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association about the National Pitcher and Player of the Week.
DALLAS (NCBWA) – The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) released its National Player of the Week awards for the period ending May 13. NC State sophomore shortstop Will Wilson was named National Hitter of the Week, while Oregon State senior left-handed pitcher Luke Heimlich 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.
Wilson’s strong week at the plate helped lead NC State to a perfect 5-0 record, highlighted by its second ACC sweep. The Kings Mountain, N.C., native recorded a .550 batting average with 11 hits during the week to go along with 12 RBI, both of which are career highs for Wilson in a single week.
He tallied at least two hits in four of the five games and hit a home run in the only game that he did not have two hits. Wilson's nine home runs in ACC play is tied for the most by an individual against conference opponents, while his 13 home runs for the season is tied for seventh in the league.
The Wolfpack standout logged four RBI in the second game against James Madison and four in game one against Wake Forest to register eight RBI over a two-game stretch. Wilson compiled a slugging percentage of .900 for the week and also had a .542 on-base percentage. He had five assists and two putouts defensively and did not commit an error. His stellar week helped lift his season batting average from .296 to .313.
Heimlich set a career-high with 14 strikeouts to send No. 3 Oregon State to a 6-2 series-opening win over No. 2 Stanford in front of Goss Stadium record 3,830 fans Friday night.
The Puyallup, Wash., native surpassed his previous best of 13 set earlier this season against Washington. He won his 12th game of the season after holding the Cardinal to three hits and two runs in eight innings. His lone blemish came in the fifth on a two-run home run by Will Matthiessen.
The lefty pushed his season strikeout total to 115, which leads the Pac-12 Conference and pushes him into a tie for 10th all-time in a single-season at Oregon State. His 12 wins rank tied for fifth and he inched closer to Ben Wetzler's career-record of 36; Heimlich now has 32.
Heimlich picked up plenty of offensive support with a three-run first inning thanks to an RBI single by Adley Rutschman and a two-run double by Michael Gretler. Steven Kwan made it 4-0 on a sacrifice fly in the second.
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 NCBWA Division I National Players of the Week, contact NCBWA Assistant Executive Director Mike Montoro at West Virginia University at 304-293-2821.
2018 NCBWA Division I Players of the Week:• Feb. 20: Jake Brodt, Santa Clara (Hitter); Nick Sandlin, Southern Miss (Pitcher)• Feb. 27: Brett Kinneman, N.C. State (Hitter); Joe DeMers, Washington (Pitcher)• March 6: Luke Heyer, Kentucky (Hitter); Payton Kinney, Omaha (Pitcher)• March 13: Jacob Rhinesmith, Western Kentucky (Hitter); Casey Mize, Auburn (Pitcher)• March 20: Joe Genord, USF (Hitter); Griffin Roberts, Wake Forest (Pitcher)• March 27: Bren Spillane, Illinois (Hitter); Jake Lee, Oakland (Pitcher)• April 3: Jon Littell, Oklahoma State (Hitter); Colton Eastman, Cal State Fullerton (Pitcher)• April 10: Connor Pauly, Morehead State (Hitter); Scotty Sunitsch, Washington State (Pitcher)• April 17: Ross Haffey, Miami, Ohio (Hitter); Noah Zavolas, Harvard (Pitcher)• April 24: Josh Jung, Texas Tech and Steven Wells, Florida State (Hitter); Connor Van Hoose, Bucknell (Pitcher)• May 1: Alex Holderbach, Eastern Kentucky (Hitter); Barrett Loseke, Arkansas (Pitcher)• May 8: Adam Sasser, Georgia (Hitter); Haylen Green, TCU (Pitcher)• May 15: Will Wilson, N.C. State (Hitter); Luke Heimlich, Oregon State (Pitcher)