In the NJCAA two Arkansas players picked up awards for Region 2: Andrew Stancin of UA-Rich Mountain was named the Player of the week, and Owens Johnson of of ASU-Mid South was named the pitcher of the week. Stancin, a redshirt sophomore catcher/infielder, collected six hits and four home runs against Eastern Oklahoma State College. Freshman pitcher Owens Johnson threw eight shutout innings against North Arkansas and allowed just four hits while striking out five.

Nate Negre, a sophomore shortstop for UCA, was named the Atlantic Sun player of the week. Negre was 6-10 against Bellarmine and hit three home runs.

Tanner Ross and Rhett Richardson of Henderson State picked up awards for the Great American Conference. Ross, a freshman infielder from Texarkana, collected six hits against Southern Nazarene, including four home runs. Richardson, a sophomore from Smackover, threw six innings and gave up just two hits and struck out seven in the win.

Nolan Freund, a junior third baseman at Little Rock, was named to Baseball America’s Team of the Week. Against Tennessee Tech, Freund hit .500 (7-for-14) with three home runs, seven RBI, and six runs scored.

Congratulations to everybody in the Natural State who played big last week, and best of luck to everybody heading into this weekend’s games.