May 1, 2007
Orlando, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - The accolades continued to pile up for senior Matt Horwath Tuesday, as the former Lake Mary star earned Pro-Line Athletic National Hitter of the Week honors selected by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Board. On Monday, Horwath was named Conference USA Hitter of the Week for the first time in his career.
Horwath's national weekly honor was the first given to a Golden Knight since Tim Bascom was one of five Louisville Slugger National Players of the Week selected by Collegiate Baseball March 7, 2005.
In helping UCF go 4-0 last week, Horwath paced an offense that combined to rack up 49 hits in the four victories. The designated hitter/third baseman went 11-for-16 for a .688 average, scored eight runs and had three RBI, four doubles, two triples, a homer, two walks a stolen base and a hit by pitch. Horwath recorded two runs and at least two hits in all four contests. In all, his slugging percentage for the week was an astonishing 1.375.
Horwath started the week by going 2-for-3 with a double and two walks in an 11-5 win over USF April 24. He followed that up with a night he will not soon forget. In game one vs. Tulane April 27, Horwath hit for UCF's first-ever cycle and set a personal-high with four hits in a game. After being hit by a pitch in the first, he singled in the third, connected for his first-career triple in the fourth and homered in the seventh. Horwath capped off his evening with the game-winning RBI double in the eighth to help defeat the Green Wave, 7-6.
To conclude the series vs. Tulane, Horwath was 2-for-4 with two more doubles in game two April 28, then went 3-for-5 with yet another triple in the finale April 29. His performance lifted UCF to its first Conference USA series sweep since joining the league for the 2006 season.
For the 2007 campaign, Horwath, who began the year recovering from an early injury, is now hitting .330 at the plate with a .511 slugging percentage and a .402 on-base percentage. In 13 games from the leadoff spot, he has a .458 batting average.
To round out the NCBWA weekly awards, Tennessee's James Adkins earned Pro-Line Athletic National Pitcher of the Week honors by breaking the school's strikeout record vs. LSU.
Horwath and UCF look to continue the momentum from last week when it hosts No. 28 Stetson Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. It will be the last home game until the regular-season series finale vs. Marshall May 17-19. For the latest news and information on the Golden Knights, tickets or apparel log on to www.ucfathletics.com - the official site for UCF athletics.