DALLAS (NCBWA) – A .611 week with 14 runs scored and 14 RBI, a four-hit complete game against a top-five team, and two dominant relief appearances captured the final National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Div. III honors for 2024. This week’s selections were based on games played April 29 through May 5.
HITTER OF THE WEEK
No. 24 Benedictine University (Illinois) graduate student infielder Kevin Bushnell hit .611 (11-for-18) and slugged 1.333 over five games. He scored 14 runs, drove in 14 runs, and homered four times. Bushnell walked twice and was hit by a pitch on three occasions. Bushnell logged a trio of three-hit games, including in the nightcap of Friday’s doubleheader with Rockford University (Illinois). In that game, Bushnell was 3-for-3 with five RBI and five runs scored. Bushnell was named to D3baseball.com’s Team of the Week.
Honorable Mention Hitter: Jeff Stearnes, Jr., INF, Russell Sage College (New York) – Continued his torrid streak to end the regular season, batting .550 (11-for-20) while hitting six home runs and driving in 15 runners for the Gators, as they clinched the Empire 8 regular season championship and the top seed for the upcoming tournament. Was named to D3baseball.com’s Team of the Week and was the Empire 8 Baseball Player of the Week.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK
No. 10 Christopher Newport University (Virginia) graduate student left-hander Dylan Weber captured his third Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week award. Weber was perfect into the fifth inning against then-No. 5 Salisbury University. He went the distance against one of Div. III’s top offenses, allowing one run on four hits with 14 strikeouts in the Captains’ 6-1 win, which clinched the regular season conference title. He upped his Div. III lead in strikeouts to 110 this season and is now the all-time C2C strikeout leader. This is Weber’s second NCBWA Div. III Pitcher of the Week award.
Honorable Mention Pitcher: Nick Guidas, Sr., Grove City College (Pennsylvania) – Went 2-0 with a 0.79 ERA in Presidents’ Athletic Conference play last week. Guidas struck out 12 in 11 1/3 innings. He struck out six in 5 1/3 innings in a 13-1 win over Washington & Jefferson College (Pennsylvania) on Monday and fired six shutout innings at Chatham University (Pennsylvania) in an 8-1 win on Saturday. He struck out six and allowed just three hits in the Saturday outing. Was named to D3baseball.com’s Team of the Week and was the PAC Pitcher of the Week.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Augustana College (Illinois) first-year right-hander Riley Fuller pitched nine shutout innings over two appearances last week. He worked five innings of three-hit shutout relief in Augustana’s 4-2 win over Carthage College (Wisconsin) on Saturday and went four innings for the save against Monmouth College (Illinois) on Tuesday. Fuller struck out seven and allowed just three hits against Monmouth. Fuller was named the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin Pitcher of the Week.
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.
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)
• Games played April 22-28: Shane Fillman, Penn State University Abington (Hitter); Jackson Powers, Heidelberg (Pitcher); Will Darrell, Vassar (Rookie)
• Games played April 29-May 5: Kevin Bushnell, Benedictine (Hitter); Dylan Weber, Christopher Newport (Pitcher); Riley Fuller, Augustana (Rookie)