DALLAS (NCBWA) – A five-homer week, a 16-strikeout performance over eight shutout innings, and a four-hit shutout earned the Hitter, Pitcher, and Rookie of the Week honors from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Div. III Committee for games played February 26 through March 3.
HITTER OF THE WEEK
LeTourneau University (Texas) senior outfielder Dane Jones led the YellowJackets to a 4-0 record last week. Jones hit .600 (9-for-15) with five home runs, 13 RBI, and nine runs scored. Jones logged multiple hits in all four contests and had at least one homer in each game. The outfielder was 2-for-4 with two homers and four RBI in a 10-3 win over Vermont State University Castleton on Tuesday. Jones went 7-for-11 with three home runs, nine RBI, and seven runs scored in a three-game weekend sweep over Sul Ross State University (Texas). Jones is hitting .419 (18-for-43) on the year with 21 RBI and leads NCAA Div. III with 47 total bases. He logged his 30th career home run on Saturday. Jones is second all-time in program history in homers and tops since the program joined the NCAA in 1999. Jones was named to D3baseball.com’s Team of the Week and was the American Southwest Conference Hitter of the Week.
Honorable Mention Hitter: Teige Barrett, Jr., 1B/OF, Whittier College (California) – Went 5-for-7 (.714) with a pair of home runs and six RBI in two wins over RV California Lutheran University in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play. Accounted for five of the Poets’ six runs to help Whittier win its first series over Cal Lutheran in eight years. Picked up the save in Saturday’s 6-5 win by striking out the side in the ninth inning. Named to D3baseball.com’s Team of the Week and was the SCIAC Hitter of the Week.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK
No. 15 Christopher Newport University (Virginia) sophomore Brandon Cassedy registered one of the finest pitching performances in program history. The D3baseball.com Team of the Week selection was named the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week for the second time this season after striking out a career-high 16 batters in a 4-0 win over Wittenberg University (Ohio) on Saturday. His 16 strikeouts are tied for the second-most in program history. Cassedy faced just four batters over the minimum in eight strong innings of work. He surrendered just three hits. Cassedy is 3-0 with a 0.47 ERA in 19 innings this season.
Honorable Mention Pitcher: Jackson Teer, Jr., No. 19 Trinity University (Texas) – Tossed a complete-game four-hitter and tied Trinity’s all-time record with 20 strikeouts in a 9-1 win against No. 22 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Matched Jimmy Wingate’s single-game strikeout record from 1965. Set a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference record for strikeouts. Became the 14th player in Div. III history to record 20 or more strikeouts in a game and was just two off the all-time record. Named to D3baseball.com Team of the Week and was the SCAC Pitcher of the Week.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Huntingdon College (Alabama) first-year pitcher JB Landrum fired a four-hit shutout in Sunday’s 1-0 nine-inning win over Millsaps College (Mississippi). Landrum, who struck out nine, faced the minimum through five innings as a first-inning double play erased a one-out single. He faced just three batters over the minimum for the game as the tying run was thrown out at the plate for the final out. Was named the Collegiate Conference of the South Rookie of the Week.
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2024 DIVISION 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)