NCBWA Players of the Week for 3/27

FROM NCBWA RELEASE
DALLAS - The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) released the Pro-Line Athletic National Player of the Week awards for the period ending March 27, today. Florida senior first baseman Matt LaPorta was named National Hitter of the Week, while Saint Louis senior right-handed pitcher Eric Rohr 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.

LaPorta was a sizzling 7-for-13 (.538) in the sweep of No. 21 Auburn with seven RBIs, three homers, three doubles and was hit by a pitch four times. Florida notched its first road sweep since May 20-22, 2005, at Vanderbilt and collected its first league series win on the road since that trip to Nashville. The Port Charlotte, Fla., native went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a pair of doubles on Friday, 1-for-6 with a homer on Saturday and was 4-for-4 with four RBIs, three runs, two home runs and a double on Sunday.

Rohr earned a pair of wins on the week after tossing 13 shutout innings in two games.  The Belleville, Ill., native registered a complete-game shutout on March 20 in the Billikens' 1-0 win over Tennessee-Martin, allowing just five singles and one walk. He pitched four innings of one-hit relief on March 25 as Saint Louis edged Charlotte, 6-5.  Rohr finished with eight strikeouts for the week.

With this week's honor, Rohr automatically is named to the watch list for Roger Clemens Award, given to the national collegiate pitcher of the year, sponsored by the Greater Houston Baseball Organization.

Fort Worth-based Pro-Line Athletic supplies the official cap to more than 100 Division I college teams and official uniforms and team wear to six Division 1 college teams. This is the third season Pro-Line has sponsored the NCBWA's Players of the Week. The sponsorship provides for plaques to be awarded to each of the weekly winners and other promotional consideration. For more information about Pro-Line, visit their Web site at: www.prolineathletic.com.

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,www.ncbwa.com.

For more information, contact NCBWA Assistant Executive Director Mike Montoro (601-266-5947, michael.montoro@usm.edu).

Florida Release
Saint Louis Release