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Gavin Turley (Mike Janes/Four Seam Images)
With the help of 64Analytics.com, Baseball America is back to highlight 10 college players who produced standout data in Week 7. Here are five hitters and pitchers who caught our attention this past week.
Hitters
Kamana Nahaku, OF, Hawaii
It’s exceptionally rare that a player outperforms an entire year’s worth of production in a single week, but that’s exactly what Nahaku did over a five-game sample. The righthanded hitter last week went 10-for-22 with five home runs, a double and 12 RBIs—each surpassing his entire output from a 2024 season in which he didn’t log a single extra-base hit. Nahaku has demonstrated vastly-improved plate discipline this season and last week utilized it to put together one of the most impactful individual weeks in the nation.
Hawaii is entering Week 8 weekend action with an impressive 21-6 overall record and 8-4 mark in conference play, which has the program in the hunt for a spot in the NCAA Tournament at the midway point of the regular season.
Gavin Turley, OF, Oregon State
Turley posted the single most valuable week of any Division I hitter according to 64Analytics’ Weight Runs Created Efficiency (wRCE) metric. In four games last week, the junior went 8-for-15 with five home runs, a double, 11 RBIs and just one strikeout, which moved him to No. 79 nationally in wRCE on the season.
Turley is the middle of an excellent season, as he’s batting .347 with eight home runs and 29 RBIs across 26 appearances. He’s notably cut down on his strikeouts, resulting in a career-low 22% rate.
Hollis Porter, 1B, Maryland
Porter last week joined impressive company as he became the first Maryland player to earn Big Ten player of the week honors since now-Cubs infielder Matt Shaw in 2023. In four games, Porter went 12-for-19 with four home runs, four doubles and 15 RBIs, which was enough to rank second nationally behind Turley in weekly wRCE and moved him up to No. 17 in the category on the season. According to 64Analytics, Porter ranks in the 90th percentile or higher this season in OPS, ISO, wRCE and wRAA.
Colin Yeaman, SS, UC Irvine
Yeaman has been a machine in the heart of a high-scoring UC Irvine lineup, a trend he continued last week when he went 10-for-17 with two doubles, one triple, a home run and six RBIs. The performance brought his season line to .431/.521/.828 with seven home runs, 39 RBIs, 11 doubles and four triples.
On pace to put together one of the best individual offensive seasons in Anteater history, Yeaman ranks 54th nationally in wRCE, putting him second the Big West behind only teammate Jacob McCombs.
Yeaman has been a notable riser on draft boards, and multiple sources in the scouting community are starting to view the middle infielder much more favorably given his loud results. Several sources believe him to be more likely to play second or third base as a professional.
Ethan Hedges, 3B/RHP, USC
Few players are able to successfully produce value for their team on both sides of the ball, but Hedges has had little trouble pulling it off this year, as he’s performed excellently as both the Trojans’ third baseman and closer.
Last week, Hedges ranked fifth nationally in weekly wRCE, as he went 10-for-17 with four home runs, two doubles, 10 RBIs and seven runs scored. He also picked up his seventh save of the year in a one-inning appearance against conference foe Indiana.
Like Yeaman, Hedges’ name has gained some draft traction in recent weeks thanks to his versatility and results on both sides of the ball. The righthanded hitter and pitcher is batting .413/.508/.798 with 10 home runs, six doubles, three triples and 35 RBIs and has pitched to a 4.00 ERA with seven saves in nine innings.
Pitchers
JB Middleton, RHP, Southern Mississippi
Middleton has enjoyed a breakout season as the Southern Miss ace this year. He punctuated the fact last week against South Alabama with eight shutout innings in what stands as one of the most dominant outings of his career. The righty struck out 12, walked just one and allowed one hit in a performance that ranked fifth nationally in 64Analytics’ Weight Runs Allowed Efficiency (wRAE).
Middleton, who now owns a 2.20 ERA through seven starts, has posted some fantastic numbers this year, including a 30.7% strikeout rate, 7.4% walk rate and 53.3% groundball rate, all of which are career-bests. His changeup has produced a staggering 63% whiff rate.
Jack Ohman, RHP, Yale
Was Ohman’s output among the five most impressive in the nation in Week 7? No, certainly not. In fact, it wasn’t even his most impressive performance of the year, as the freshman righty threw five shutout innings and struck out eight to three walks against Harvard.
However, it’s time to talk about Ohman’s results on the season as a whole:
| Date | IP | H | R/ER | BB | K |
| Feb. 22 | 2.1 | 1 | 0/0 | 0 | 4 |
| March 2 | 5.0 | 1 | 0/0 | 2 | 5 |
| March 9 | 7.0 | 6 | 3/0 | 1 | 7 |
| March 16 | 5.0 | 4 | 0/0 | 3 | 5 |
| March 23 | 6.0 | 4 | 1/0 | 1 | 9 |
| March 29 | 5.0 | 1 | 0/0 | 3 | 8 |
| TOTAL | 30.1 | 17 | 4/0 | 10 | 38 |
Ohman has kept opposing hitters completely off balance so far this season, allowing just 17 hits and no earned runs over 30.1 innings. He still has a ways to go, but Ohman is well on the path to challenging George Plender’s record 57.2 consecutive scoreless innings set across the 1954-55 seasons.
Jake Knapp, RHP, North Carolina
After missing the 2024 season due to injury, Knapp has bounced back emphatically, as he’s consistently ranked among the best pitchers in the country through seven weeks.
Knapp last week struck out a career-high 10 batters over seven shutout innings with just five hits allowed against Miami, adding to career-best totals including a 28.3% strikeout rate, a minuscule 3.9% walk rate, a 2.43 SIERA and a 4.5% home run-to-fly ball percentage. Knapp has leaned on a low-to-mid-90s fastball and changeup that has produced whiffs roughly 40% of the time.
Knapp ranks No. 14 nationally in wRAE, per 64Analytics. His FIP (2.44) and SIERA rank in the 95th percentile nationally.
Zach Root, LHP, Arkansas
Now locked into Arkansas’ Friday night role, Root put together another stellar week with 7.2 shutout innings, seven strikeouts, three hits allowed and three walks against then-No. 14 Vanderbilt.
Root has thrown 14.2 innings of two-run ball over his last two starts and shown off his improved command. His 27.4% K-BB% marks a significant leap from the 19.7% clip he posted last season at East Carolina, a sign of his growth.
Root enters his Week 8 start ranked second nationally in season wRAE.
Charlie Christensen, RHP, Central Arkansas
It hasn’t been the easiest season Christensen, who currently sports a 6.58 ERA over 39.2 innings (eight appearances, seven starts). But Week 7 offered a reset button, and Christensen slammed it, flashing the promise buried beneath his ERA with 11 scoreless innings and 12 strikeouts to no walks across two appearances.
Christensen first offered two scoreless frames in a midweek appearances against Arkansas State and returned to action three days later with a complete game shutout against Eastern Kentucky.
His outings ranked second nationally in Week 7 wRAE, according to 64Analytics.
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