Powell collects National Baseball POTW award

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Appalachian Athletic Conference isn't the only organization that took notice of Luke Powell's dominance last week.

A day after being named AAC Baseball Player of the week, Powell was chosen as the National Player of the Week by the NAIA on Tuesday.

The junior outfielder was recognized for a four-game stretch where he went 10-for-14 with 10 RBIs, nine runs scored, four home runs, two doubles and an astounding 1.714 slugging percentage. He capped this off by tying a single-game school record with three home runs in an 11-3 win over Bryan.

His heroics helped Union sweep a three-game series against the 14th-ranked Lions and clinch a spot in the upcoming AAC Tournament.

Powell is the third Bulldog to earn NAIA National Player of the Week honors and the first to do so since Tyler Brake won the award during the week of April 8-14, 2013.

With two weeks left in the season, the Bulldogs are 22-15-1 overall and 11-11 in the AAC. They open the week with a non-conference road game at Pikeville Tuesday afternoon before traveling for a critical AAC three-game series against Point (12-11 in the AAC) on Friday and Saturday.