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College  | Story  | 5/10/2022

College Player, Pitcher of the Week

Vincent Cervino     
Photo: Juaron Watts-Brown (Long Beach State Athletics)
College Player Report Database 

May 10



Perfect Game/Rawlings Player of the Week: Ivan Melendez, Texas

Melendez has been one of the most fearsome hitters in the country this season, hitting over .420 with over 40 walks and a nation-leading 25 home runs. Melendez went 8-for-14 this week, good enough for a .571 batting average, with three home runs over Texas’ four games. Melendez is a very real Golden Spikes candidate and will be one of the most dangerous hitters in the country come postseason time.

Perfect Game/Rawlings Pitcher of the Week: Juaron Watts-Brown, Long Beach State

Watts-Brown etched his name into the Dirtbags’ record books on Sunday as the right-hander delivered the first complete game no-hitter in school history. Watts-Brown didn’t just avoid any and all hits, he also struck out 16 hitters against UC Riverside. This was certainly an impressive achievement for Watts-Brown, who delivered one of the most memorable pitching performances of the season.

May 3

Perfect Game/Rawlings Player of the Week: Ryan Lasko, Rutgers

Lasko has been one of Rutgers’ best hitters since arriving on campus and he was out-of-his-body good last week, resulting in a .667 average with five home runs over four games. The five home runs all came in the final two games of the weekend series against Ohio State and Lasko’s propensity both for the long ball and the barrel see him take home the weekly honors.

Perfect Game/Rawlings Pitcher of the Week: Ryan Ramsey, Maryland

Ramsey twirled a nine-inning perfect game against Northwestern on Friday night, and that’s certainly worthy of Pitcher of the Week honors in our book. Ramsey has been a revelation for Maryland this spring, ascending to the Friday night ace role and thriving in the process. He was literally unhittable on Friday night, as Ramsey and Maryland look like the favorites in the Big Ten as of this writing.

April 26

Perfect Game/Rawlings Player of the Week: Kendal Ewell, Eastern Kentucky

Ewell went absolutely bonkers during Eastern Kentucky’s 4-0 week, which included five home runs across the final two games of the series and a .722 average on the week. On Saturday, Ewell went 5-for-5 with three home runs and six RBI and he followed that up with a two-home run game on Sunday for good measure. The outfielder is now hitting .421 on the season with 12 home runs as the Colonels find themselves in the thick of the ASUN race.

Perfect Game/Rawlings Pitcher of the Week: Jacob Palisch, Texas A&M

There were other options here with gaudier numbers, including a couple of seven-inning perfect games, but Palisch was the go-to man in what was a huge series win for the Aggies. Palisch totaled six innings with just three hits allowed, including 10 strikeouts and two saves, one in each game the Aggies took over the Razorbacks. A Stanford transfer, Palisch looks to have found a home in the backend of the ‘pen, racking up strikeouts and filling up the zone.

April 19

Perfect Game/Rawlings Player of the Week: Tanner Schobel, Virginia Tech

Schobel was part of the Virginia Tech offensive machine that managed to down previous No. 2 Miami and earn the Hokies a place in the top-10. Schobel hit over .420 on the week, which included a midweek win over Liberty, with three home runs and 11 RBI. Schobel is a key cog in what makes this Virginia Tech offense super dangerous, and he takes home Player of the Week honors.

Perfect Game/Rawlings Pitcher of the Week: Carter Gannaway, Tennessee Tech

Gannaway was the clutch arm for Tennessee Tech in their major upset victory over No. 1 Tennessee during the midweek. Gannaway tossed 5 2/3 hitless innings with nine strikeouts, as he had Tennessee hitters in absolute fits. It’s one of the bigger stories across the sport as Tennessee has just three total losses on the year and Gannaway was literally unhittable on Tuesday night.

April 12

Perfect Game/Rawlings Player of the Week: Ryan Cermak, Illinois State

When you look at the stat line that Cermak put forth, the numbers can be pretty eye-popping. The outfielder from Illinois State went bonkers in the midweek, crushing three home runs and driving in 10 RBI, including back-to-back innings with a grand slam and four straight plate appearances with a home run. He went deep twice more over the weekend against Kansas and finished hitting .563 on the week. The toolsed up center fielder has been rising up draft boards and this week certainly didn’t hurt his overall stock.

Perfect Game/Rawlings Pitcher of the Week: Pete Hansen, Texas

With a complete game shutout on Friday night, Hansen has now gone 16 scoreless against the in-state rival Horned Frogs over the last two seasons. The southpaw is one of the more advanced pitchers in the country and Hansen was dialed in from the first pitch. He allowed just two hits, one walk, and struck out 12 as Hansen continues to be one of the best pitchers across the country for the top-10 Longhorns.

April 5

Perfect Game/Rawlings Player of the Week: Max Ryerson, Georgia State

Ryerson is a physical outfielder who was instrumental in the Panthers’ sweep of South Alabama over the weekend. Ryerson had four home runs over the weekend, and finished hitting .562 on the week, with two coming on Friday night and two coming on Sunday afternoon. He’s a big power hitter and that power certainly showed up this weekend as he got up to 10 home runs on the season.

Perfect Game/Rawlings Pitcher of the Week: Cooper Hjerpe, Oregon State

The Oregon State ace might have put forth the most dominant start of the season on Friday and he did so despite not even getting the win. Hjerpe went eight shutout innings with just two hits allowed and an absurd 17 strikeouts on 118 pitches. The southpaw has vaulted himself into the first round due to his stuff, success, and overall performance this season as Hjerpe is solidifying himself as one of the best in the sport.


March 29

Perfect Game/Rawlings Co-Players of the Week: Josh Hatcher, Kennesaw State & Jake Gehri, Yale

Hitting for the cycle is an impressive feat in and of itself, but hitting for the cycle twice in one week? Now that will lock up the Player of the Week award. That being said, the only thing that could out-do hitting for the cycle would be hitting four home runs in the same game, including two grand slams! Hatcher finished hitting .500 with the cycle on Wednesday against Georgia Tech and Saturday against North Florida, while Gehri launched four bombs on Sunday against Princeton with 11 RBI and finished with a .400 batting average on the week.

Perfect Game/Rawlings Pitcher of the Week: Chase Burns, Tennessee

The story of the college baseball weekend was that Tennessee went down to Oxford and crushed Ole Miss, cementing themselves as the best team in the country. The pitching staff was a big part of that and the tone was set by true freshman Chase Burns. The hard-throwing right-hander struck out 11 over seven innings while allowing just two hits and one run. Burns lowered his ERA to 0.80 on the season and to do what he’s been doing as a 19-year-old freshman in the SEC has been ultra-impressive.

March 22

Rawlings/Perfect Game Player of the Week: Jacob Wilson, Grand Canyon

The shortstop for GCU went absolutely bonkers this week with a .782 average, eight runs scored, 13 RBI, and three home runs. Wilson is one of the top sophomores in the nation and at one point had a hit in 10 consecutive plate appearances. He’s been a major part of what’s been a dangerous GCU team early in the year.

Rawlings/Perfect Game Pitcher of the Week: Jonathan Cannon, Georgia

Cannon was dazzling on Friday night as he tossed eight shutout innings with nine strikeouts to open SEC play with a victory over Mississippi State. Cannon was draft eligible last year but returned to be the staff ace for the Bulldogs and he’s solidified Friday nights in Athens. With continued SEC success he’ll likely have his name called on draft day sooner rather than later.

March 15

Perfect Game/Rawlings Player of the Week: Chase Estep, Kentucky

Over the course of five games last week, Estep hit over .500 with four home runs as the Cats went 4-1 in those games. Estep is hitting .476 on the season with more walks than strikeouts and is proving to be one of the more adept bat-to-ball hitters in the conference. He’s got a 16-game hitting streak and his performance last week was very strong. 

Perfect Game/Rawlings Pitcher of the Week: Brandon Birdsell, Texas Tech

In what was likely the best performance of his career to date, Birdsell struck out 15 over six innings without allowing a hit or a walk. He might also be the only pitcher ever to finish with eight strikeouts over two innings, which is frankly pretty impressive. Birdsell has always had huge stuff and through 20 innings on the year he’s got a 1.80 ERA and a 34:6 K:BB ratio. 

March 8

Perfect Game/Rawlings Player of the Week: Derek Orndorff, Liberty

Orndorff had a terrific week for No. 12 Liberty as the senior hit five home runs in four games to take over the national home run lead at 10. Orndorff is the power threat behind Flames star Aaron Anderson in the lineup and he certainly took advantage of hittable pitches this week. The national home run race is always fun to follow and Orndorff has usurped NC State freshman Tommy White heading into the 4th weekend of the year.

Perfect Game/Rawlings Pitcher of the Week: Thatcher Hurd, UCLA

UCLA’s star freshman tallied 6 2/3 scoreless innings with just two hits allowed and one walk to an absurd fifteen strikeouts. The true freshman is an immense talent, you can read his full report from Shriners this weekend here, and has some of the best pure stuff in the country regardless of class. We expect to see Hurd on weekends sooner rather than later but the numbers this week were very nearly perfect.


March 1

Perfect Game/Rawlings Player of the Week: Kevin Parada, Georgia Tech

Parada was scorching hot all week as he finished with five home runs and a .571 batting average that included 12 hits. Parada’s history as an excellent hitter is no surprise and now as he’s tapping into the power more consistently, and he’s showing why he’s one of the best overall hitters in the sport. Parada also had a whopping 17 RBI on the week over the course of five games.

Perfect Game/Rawlings Pitcher of the Week: Parker Messick, Florida State

Messick tossed about as close to a perfect game over seven innings as one could get, to the tune of seven shutout with 13 strikeouts and no walks. He allowed just one hit and one hit batter as he was in complete control of his full arsenal. Similar to Parada, Messick is near the top of the sport at his position and this efficient masterpiece is another in a long resume that Messick will have when his college career is done.

Feb. 22

Perfect Game/Rawlings Player of the Week: Tommy White, NC State

It’s been clear since White’s prep days that he had the skill to jump into the three-hole on a top ten team as a true freshman. What wasn’t clear is the sheer amount of success that he would have in just three games. White’s current slash line is .643/1.714/2.402 as he launched an absurd five bombs over the three-game set and he looks super comfortable handling college pitching. He was always such an exciting hitter and we’re going to be spoiled by the true freshman for the next three years.

Perfect Game/Rawlings Pitcher of the Week: Luis Ramirez, Long Beach State

There were better stat lines in terms of strikeouts on the weekend, but Ramirez highlights the impressiveness of Long Beach State’s series on the whole. The Friday night ace went six hitless on Opening Day, on the road, against the defending national champions with the biggest crowd in the sport. Ramirez is a low-pulse righty who was dicing the opposing hitters with all of his pitches to the tune of six hitless innings with five punchouts. The pitching staff was always going to be impressive, but Ramirez was downright dominant in the toughest environment in the country.
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