Svehla named Division III National Player of the Week
INDIANOLA - Days after earning Iowa Conference Athlete of the Week honors for his perfect week at the plate, Simpson outfielder Trent Svehla added National Player of the Week honors to his resume on Thursday.
Svehla, a senior outfielder from Lincoln, Neb., earned NCAA Division III National Hitter of the Week honors for the week of March 28-April 3, 2011, as voted on by a panel of D-III members of the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.
The leftfielder - in his first year with the Storm - was a perfect 9-for-9 (1.000) at the plate as Simpson swept a three-game weekend series from host Loras. He had a double, a walk, a 1.111 slugging percentage and a 1.000 on base percentage, while scoring two runs and driving in four.
He went 4-for-4 and had three RBIs in the series opener on April 1. In the first game of a doubleheader on April 2, he went 2-for-2 with a walk and a run scored in a 2-1 victory, then went 3-for-3 with a double, a run scored, and an RBI in the final game. In one week, he improved his batting average 244 points from .294 to .538 while helping the Storm to its best start in conference play since 1999.
Svehla extended his streak to 11-for-11 with hits in his first two at-bats in Simpson's doubleheader sweep of Central on April 5. He currently leads the team with a .515 batting average to go along with eight RBIs, three doubles and five runs scored.
Sitting atop the Iowa Conference standings, the Storm (14-5, 7-0) travel to Waverly for a three-game set with Wartburg beginning Friday, April 8.
