Western Kentucky junior right fielder Jake Sanford was named Tuesday as the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association National Hitter of the Week for the period ending March 31.

Sanford went 12-for-20 with two walks in three games vs. Charlotte and a midweek contest at Eastern Kentucky. He smacked five home runs and drove in 15 runs, while also scoring eight times. The Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, native produced a .600/.636/1.400 slash line for the week, helping the Hilltoppers go 3-0-1.

In Tuesday’s 12-9 victory at Eastern Kentucky, Sanford went 3-for-6 with three home runs, eight runs batted in and four runs scored. He became the first WKU player to hit three homers in a game since Jordan Newton in 2006, and only the fourth C-USA hitter to do so since 2010. His eight runs batted in were the most by a Hilltopper since at least 2005 (when game-by-game records are available) and tied for the fifth-most in C-USA history.

Sanford continued his tear over the weekend, going 9-for-14 against the 49ers – including back-to-back four-hit games to cap the series – with two home runs, seven RBIs and four runs scored.

Across Division I this season, Sanford’s 14 home runs rank second and his 42 RBIs are tied for fourth, while his 93 total bases and .886 slugging percentage each stand third overall.

Sanford finished March going 30-for-76 (.411) with eight walks for a .476 on-base percentage in 18 games. He hit 14 home runs and four doubles for a 1.041 slugging percentage, while scoring 26 runs and posting 34 RBIs.

Sanford is the first NCBWA National Hitter of the Week winner from Conference USA this season and the third league player to win a national weekly honor in 2019. Sanford was also named a Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball on Monday.{&end}