April 10, 2007

PHILADELPHIA - In voting conducted by area coaches, La Salle's John Rickards was named the Philadelphia Big 5 Baseball Player of the Week after his performance last week.

 

Rickards was 8-for-17 (.563 batting average) for the week with five extra base hits and three RBI. His best performance was a 4-for-4 showing with three doubles, a triple, and three RBI on Friday in La Salle's 7-2 victory over Saint Louis.

 

He also had three hits in the nightcap against the Billikens in Saturday's doubleheader, which included another double. He had a .938 slugging percentage for the week and a .611 on-base percentage. The junior is batting .380 this season with eight doubles and 17 RBI. This is his second Big 5 honor of the season, third of his career.

 

Formed with the mission of increasing the exposure of college baseball in the area, Philadelphia Big 5 Baseball is comprised of the five Division I universities in Philadelphia that sponsor baseball. The organization, which was called the Philadelphia Diamond Five last season, is now under the umbrella of the Philadelphia Big Five office.

 

The Big 5 will announce a Player and Pitcher of the Week every Monday during the season. The second annual All-Big 5 baseball team will be announced at the conclusion of the season.

 

Temple's Tom Dolan was named the Pitcher of the Week for the third time this seasonafter taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning and striking out 16 batters in Temple's 6-5 victory at Dayton, Sunday.