DALLAS (NCBWA) – The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association released its NCAA Division II National Players of the Week awards for the week ending on April 7, 2024. MSU Denver senior infielder Zach Schuler, is the National Hitter of the Week and Grand Valley State sophomore lefty Mike Morawski is the National Pitcher of the Week.
Schuler (Martinez, Calif.) had six homers and 17 RBIs in a four-game sweep of New Mexico Highlands. He hit at least one home run in each game, including back-to-back two-homer, seven-RBI efforts in games two and three. For the series he batted .667 and he chipped in two doubles, too, for a sublime 2.000 slugging percentage, and he drew four walks that contributed to a .750 on-base percentage and tallied 30 total bases. For the season Schuler is batting .384 with 13 homers and 51 RBIs. He's now tied for second in program history with 42 career homers, fourth with 367 total bases, 7th with 166 RBIs, and ninth with 155 runs.
Morawski (Tinley Park, Ill.) was named the GLIAC Pitcher of the Week for the second consecutive week. Morawski tossed a complete-game shutout with a career-high 13 strikeouts in the Lakers' 3-0 win over Parkside Saturday (April 6). The lone hit was an infield single. The 13 strikeouts places him second all-time in a GVSU single-game, while his one-hitter is the 15th all-time in Laker annals. In his last two outings, Morawski is 2-0 with one run allowed on six hits with 18 strikeouts in 16.1 IP.
Division II Regional Players of the Week:
- Atlantic: Elijah Snider, Seton Hill (Hitter); Brent Francisco, East Stroudsburg (Pitcher)
- Central: Garrett Rice, Missouri Southern (Hitter); John Gray, Arkansas Tech (Pitcher)
- East: Marquise Wood, Jefferson (Hitter); Patrick Gleason, Pace (Pitcher)
- Midwest: Will Shannon, Hillsdale (Hitter); Mike Morawski, Grand Valley State (Pitcher)
- South: Josiah Miller, Lee (Hitter); Edward Berry, Rollins (Pitcher)
- South Central: Zach Schuler, MSU Denver (Hitter); Alezeah Gutierrez, Angelo State (Pitcher)
- Southeast: Donovan Ford, Newberry (Hitter); Drew Stegura, Belmont Abbey (Pitcher)
- West: Garet Crenshaw, Cal State Dominguez Hills (Hitter); Jonathan Garza II, Central Washington (Pitcher)
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 Howser Award Player of the Year, Regional Player of the Year and NCBWA All-America voting. The NCBWA also sponsors preseason All-America awards, publication and writing contests.
2024 NCBWA Division II Players of the Week:
Feb. 7: Ryan Ball, Lubbock Christian (Hitter, South Central); Cole Gayman, Missouri Southern (Pitcher, Central)
Feb. 14: C.D. White, Northeastern State (Hitter, Central); Jonathan Zayas, Northwest Nazarene (Pitcher, West)]
Feb. 21: Karson Coffee, Pittsburg State (Hitter, Central); Hayden Jatczak, Saginaw Valley State (Pitcher, Midwest)
Feb. 28: Christian Casteneda, Colorado State-Pueblo (Hitter, South Central); Nick McCollum, Georgia Southwestern (Pitcher, Southeast)
March 7: JJ Engman, Cal State Monterey Bay (Hitter, West); Reece Fields, North Greenville, (Pitcher, Southeast)
March 14: Mason Andrews, Colorado School of Mines (Hitter, South Central); Caleb Saari, Augustana (S.D.) (Pitcher, Central)
March 21: Jacob Guerrero, Angelo State (Hitter, South Central); Griffin Kilander, Wayne State (Mich.) (Pitcher, Midwest)
March 28: EJ Cumbo, Tampa (Hitter, South); Peter Tveite, Winona State (Pitcher, Central)
Aprril 4: Isaac Nett, Southwest Minnesota State (Hitter, Central); Jake Covey, Concordia University Irvine (Pitcher, West)
April 11: Zach Schuler, MSU Denver (Hitter, South Central); Mike Morawski, Grand Valley State (Pitcher, Midwest)