NCBWA Announces UT's Matt Piatt as Division II National Player of the Week

DALLAS – The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) released its NCAA Division II National Players of the Week awards for the week ending on March 8.  University of Tampa junior outfielder Matt Piatt is the National Hitter of the Week, while Findlay redshirt freshman pitcher Mark Delas is the National Pitcher of the Week.

Piatt, a junior outfielder from Seminole, Fla., earned Sunshine State Conference Player of the Week honors after hitting over .800 for Tampa across four games last week.

In a solo game against Seton Hill, he went 2-for-2 with a pair of runs, runs batted in, and walks. In the first of three games against Albany State, Piatt went 2-for-3 with three runs batted in and two runs scored. Piatt's top game came in the first game of a Saturday double header against Albany-State, where he went 4-for-5 at the plate with three RBI and a run scored. In his final game of the week, the Seminole, Florida native went 1-for-1, scored three times, and drew three walks.

Piatt registered nine hits in 11 at-bats and scored eight times for the Spartans. He also drove in 10 runs and drew five walks. Piatt posted a .818 batting average and a 1.545 slugging percentage this week as Tampa was victorious in all four games played. The Spartans are now 15-1 overall, 3-0 in SSC play.

Delas (Perrysburg, Ohio) made his first career start on Thursday vs. Gannon University. Delas threw a complete game no-hitter and faced the minimum 21 batters against the Golden Knights who entered the game with an 8-2 record and a team batting average of .367 which was ninth in the country at the time. Delas had six strikeouts and walked just one in the win. It is the first no-hitter thrown by an Oilers pitcher since the 1996 season when Jack Zaborowski no-hit the Tiffin Dragons.

Division II Regional Players of the Week:- Atlantic: Zac Heide, Seton Hill (Hitter); Don McWreath, Seton Hill (Pitcher)- Central: Evan Koehler, Emporia State (Hitter); Jinny Parra, Oklahoma Baptist (Pitcher)- East: Scott Hagan, Mercy (Hitter); Ronald Bauer, Molloy (Pitcher)- Midwest: Luke Ortel, Hillsdale (Hitter); Mark Delas, Findlay (Pitcher) - South: Matt Piatt, Tampa (Hitter); Dalton Moats, Delta State (Pitcher)- South Central: Trace Hansen, West Texas A&M (Hitter); Sebi Palacios, Texas A&M-Kingsville (Pitcher)- Southeast: Daniel Pardo, Montevallo (Hitter); Cody Hughes, Montevallo (Pitcher)- West: Stephen Lohr, California Baptist (Hitter); Harrison McGhee, Concordia-Portland (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.

2016 NCBWA Division II Players of the Week:- Feb. 17: Brett Wilhelm, Lubbock Christian (Hitter); Brooks Trujillo, West Texas A&M (Pitcher)- Feb. 25: Andrew Vogelbaugh, Pittsburg State (Hitter); Guillaume Blanchette, Lubbock Christian (Pitcher)- Mar. 3: Blaise Warrick, Arkansas-Fort Smith (Hitter); Ben Criscuolo, Southern New Hampshire (Pitcher)- Mar. 10: Matt Piatt, University of Tampa (Hitter); Mark Delas, Findlay (Pitcher)