DALLAS — Senior Ryan Hutson was honored yet again for his outstanding week at the plate, as he was named the Pro-Line Athletic National Co-Hitter of the Week, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) announced on Tuesday.
Hutson, who also was tabbed Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week on Monday and Southland Conference Hitter of the Week the day before that, is the first player in the program's 20-year history to receive the weekly national award given out by the NCBWA. This also marks the sixth time in school annals that a Roadrunner has received weekly national honors.
The first baseman helped UTSA to a 3-1 mark last week, including earning the program's first-ever season sweep of Houston and taking two of three contests against Central Arkansas.
The Round Rock native was 9-for-17 (.438) with a double, five home runs and eight RBIs. He also accumulated 23 total bases, which translated to a 1.438 slugging percentage. Hutson surpassed Jeff Juarez's 12-year old mark of 47 home runs, which was set from 1996-99, after belting three round-trippers in Saturday's regular season finale against Central Arkansas. His record-breaking 48th homer came on his final swing at Roadrunner Field. Hutson also became the fourth player in the program's 20-year history to hit three home runs in a game and first since Jose Hernandez accomplished the feat on March 6, 2009.
Hutson is hitting .342 with 11 doubles, a triple, 10 homers and 35 RBIs this spring.
The Roadrunners (26-30) will be the No. 6 seed at this week's Southland Conference Tournament in San Marcos. UTSA will play the first game of the four-day event at 9 a.m. on Wednesday against third-seeded Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (34-22). The Birds swept the Islanders from April 1-3 at Roadrunner Field earlier this season and have won five of the last six meetings between the two programs.
