J.T. Weber was named a National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball, the organization announced Monday. Later in the day, Weber was also named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week, as well. Weber led SIU to an MVC series win over Evansville and had a slash line of .700/.824/1.300 in the series.
Weber, a Metropolis, Ill., native, reached base in 14 of his 17 plate appearances in SIU’s series win over Evansville. Weber went 7-for-10 with two homers, drew 4 walks and 3 HBP to post an .824 on-base percentage. His two homers gave him a 1.300 slugging percentage in the week and he drove in three runs while playing error-free defense, which included a run-saving outfield assists from left field on a would-be sacrifice fly.
Collegiate Baseball also announced its weekly top-30 national rankings. SIU is ranked No. 27 nationally by the organizations, falling two spots from last week after dropping its first game of the season on Sunday. SIU is 14-1 this season and leads the nation in wins.
Weber was one of nine National Players of the Week by Collegiate Baseball.
Weber became the third SIU player in three-straight weeks to earn MVC Player of the Week. Philip Archer was the MVC Player of the Week two weeks ago, and Tristan Peters earned the honor last week.
NATIONAL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK (Collegiate Baseball)
RHP Colin Fields, Valparaiso: Fields threw the eighth no-hitter in Valparaiso history with a 5-0, 7-inning win over Middle Tennessee St. After walking the leadoff batter in the bottom of the first, he set down 19 straight until the seventh inning. Fields racked up 10 strikeouts which tied his career high.
3B Cade Doughty, Louisiana St.: Doughty belted 5 home runs, 6 runs scored and 12 RBI over 5 games last week as he went 7-for-21 at the plate. He also walked 5 times.
RHP McCade Brown, Indiana: Brown threw 7 no-hit innings during an 8-0 win over Penn State. He also matched the Indiana school record with 16 strikeouts. His strikeout total is the most for any IU pitcher in a Big Ten game.
3B Chris Brito, Rutgers: Brito hit 4 home runs, 2 doubles and collected 9 RBI and 5 runs as he went 9-for-18 at the plate in four games against Maryland.
RHP Jarret Whorff, Louisiana Tech.: Whorff handed No. 1 Arkansas its first loss of the 2021 season as he fired a complete-game shutout while allowing no hits over the final 7 innings during a 2-0 win. He struck out 10 batters and only walked 1.
RF Ethan Cady, East Tennessee St.: Cady recorded 4 home runs and 1 double with 9 RBI as he went 5-for-13 last week in 4 games. He also drew 4 walks.
LHP Dustin Saenz, Texas A&M: Saenz recorded 14 strikeouts, including 13 over the first 5 innings, during a win over Samford. He only allowed 4 hits, all singles, including two of the infield variety.
3B Clemente Inclan, North Carolina: Inclan homered in 4 straight games last week as he posted 4 circuit clouts with 8 RBI and 6 runs scored. He went 4-for-11 at the plate and walked twice.
LF J.T. Weber, Southern Illinois: Weber reached base in 14 of his 17 plate appearances in Southern Illinois’ series win over Evansville. He was 7-for-10 with 2 homers. He also drew 4 walks and was hit by 3 pitches to post an on-base percentage of .824. He also had a run-saving outfield assist on a fly ball to leftfield.