Feb. 24, 2009
PHILADELPHIA - La Salle University junior Christian Schulz has been named the Philadelphia Big 5 Baseball Pitcher of the Week in voting conducted by the school's head coaches and sports information offices.
Schulz threw four innings of scoreless relief to earn the first save of his career in the Explorers 5-2 season-opening win at Duke on Friday. He allowed just two hits and struck out a career-high tying four batters without allowing a walk.
After surrendering a single to the first batter he faced on Friday, the southpaw retired 11 of the last 12 batters he faced, including an inning-ending double play in the eighth inning to erase his only other base runner.
Schulz saved the game for starter Drew Gerhart, who went five innings and allowed just two earned runs. The 5-2 victory over Duke was the team's first over an ACC opponent since joining the A-10. The Blue Devils were a preseason top 40 team in many of the national polls.
The Olney, MD native was the Explorers best pitcher out of the pen in 2008, with a 1.59 ERA in 17 innings and 11 strikeouts in seven appearances.
Temple senior Carmen Del Mastro earned the Player of the Week after batting .545 (6-for-11) with four RBI for the Owls in a 2-1 week.
La Salle (1-3) opened the season with a victory for only the second time this decade (2004) and the last two times the team has gone on to win at least 20 games in that year. They return to action this weekend with a four-game series at Morehead State in Kentucky.
Last season, three different pitchers earned four Pitcher of the Week honors. Overall, this is the 13th Pitcher of the Week honor an Explorer has received by eight different hurlers.
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 the Philadelphia that sponsor baseball. The Big 5 will announce a Player and Pitcher of the Week every week during the season with the fourth annual All-Big 5 baseball team announced at the conclusion of the season.
