ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Newman first baseman Jenner Steele has been named the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Central Region Player of the Week following his impressive performance in week 12. 
 
Steele went 6-for-14 (.429) with four home runs while slashing .429/.500/1.357 for a whopping 1.857 OPS, driving in eight while scoring five runs. The first baseman added a double and drew a pair of walks, homering in each of Newman's three games at Pittsburg State including launching two long balls in the opener. A native of Branson, Missouri, Steele is hitting .417 through 46 games this season with 14 doubles, 19 home runs and 60 RBI. 
 
The NCBWA Central Region committee consists of 15 voters with five representatives each from the GAC, MIAA and NSIC. Weekly regular season rankings began on February 13 and run through May 8. The Central Region of NCAA DII Baseball is comprised of three conferences – the Great American Conference, the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association and the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference – featuring 39 programs spanning nine states.  

Steele is 1st in the MIAA in average (.417), 1st in OPS (1.299), 1st in total bags (153), 1st in slugging % (.818%), 2nd in hits (78), 2nd in home runs (19), and 3rd in OBP (.481) and RBI's (60). He is the first player to earn NCBWA Player of The Week honors since Nick Griffin in 2017.