Player of the week honors for senior catcher Bret Pignatiello are showering in.

Monday, Pignatiello was named Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Week and national player of the week by Collegiate Baseball, which covers amateur baseball and features the oldest college baseball poll.

Pignatiello batted .524 (11-21) in six games last week, scored 10 runs and posted a 1.333 slugging percentage. He also extended his hitting streak to nine games. He currently leads the Panthers in batting average (.346) and the OVC in slugging percentage (.756), total base average (2.81 per game) and home runs (nine).

“The ball definitely looked like a beach ball,” Pignatiello said.

All five of Pignatiello’s home runs for the week came in last weekend’s four-game series against Indiana-Purdue at Fort Wayne. In the series, he was 8-for-13 at the plate with eight runs scored and seven RBI.

“I’ve just felt absolutely great at the plate lately,” Pignatiello said.

Pignatiello was Collegiate Baseball’s only position player selected of the three player of the week honorees. Nevada-Las Vegas right-handed pitcher Matt Luca and Wake Forest right-hand pitcher Kyle Sleeth were also honored along with Pignatiello by Collegiate Baseball. Luca struck out a season-high 11 batters in a no-hitter against San Diego State, UNLV’s third no-hitter in school history and first since 1990. Sleeth tied the NCAA record for consecutive wins at 26 with 11-1 win over Duke.

“I don’t feel pressure to lead the team in hitting. It’s just a job that I have to do,” Pignatiello said.

Pignatiello is not the only Panther garnering awards for his efforts this week.

Senior pitcher Damon White was named OVC Co-Pitcher of the Week, sharing the honor with Southeast Missouri’s senior lefthanded Tim Alvarez. White threw Eastern’s first 9-inning complete game in three years, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits and a walk. He improved his record to 2-1 and lowered his team-leading ERA to 1.69, second in the OVC behind Alvarez (1.47), while striking out 10 batters.

Alvarez earned a pair of wins against Lincoln University and Missouri Valley College while pitching nine shutout innings.