Southern’s Weeks wins Howser Award

Omaha, Neb. — Southern University second baseman Rickie Weeks won the Dick Howser Award Friday as the nation’s best college baseball player.

The All-American led the nation in hitting the last two seasons with averages of .495 and .479. He was a two-time Southwestern Athletic Conference player of the year and taken with the No. 2 overall pick by Milwaukee in the major-league draft last week.

“Talent comes a long way but a player must have the mental aspect,” he said.

The 17th annual Howser award, presented by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, was announced before the start of the College World Series.

The Howser Trophy was named after the former Florida State All-American player who went on to play eight seasons in the major leagues and manage the New York Yankees and Kansas City Royals. Howser died of cancer in 1987.

July trial date set for Texas junior

Austin, Texas — Texas junior second baseman Tim Moss’s trial on misdemeanor charges of assault and evading arrest has been set for July 16.

Moss, who is with the Longhorns at the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., was arrested in May 2002 after an incident at an apartment complex in which police said he and other man kicked and stomped a man on the ground and then fled from officers.

If convicted, the Class A misdemeanor assault charge carries up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine. The evading arrest charge is a Class B misdemeanor with up to six months in jail and $2,000 in fines.