March 26, 2008

PHILADELPHIA - La Salle University senior second baseman John Rickards has been named the Philadelphia Big 5 Player of the Week, in voting conducted by the schools' head coaches and sports information offices.

Rickards batted .421 for the week with nine RBI and also scored five times. He blasted two home runs, while also registering a double and triple. He currently has a six-game hitting streak and is batting .500 in that stretch, with a 1.000 slugging percentage.

Recently, he knocked in his 100th career RBI, and is just seven shy of the top 10 in that category. He is currently tied for the all-time record in career triples (15), is 10th in career home runs (21) and ninth in career total bases (295).

During the year, he has a chance to move into the top 10 in at-bats (63 shy), runs (26 shy), hits (13 shy), and doubles (two shy).

After a slow start, Rickards has raised his average from .214 on March 12 to his current .316 average - third on the team. He leads the team in RBI (22), home runs (5), runs (18), triples (4), slugging percentage (.658) and hit-by-pitches (10), and is second on the team in hits (25) and on-base percentage (.421).

This is the first Big 5 Player of the Week honor for Rickards in 2008 and the fifth of his career. He received it three times as a junior and once as a sophomore.