April 7, 2009

PHILADELPHIA – La Salle junior TJ Chism and La Salle sophomore Kevin Fuqua have been named the Philadelphia Big 5 Baseball Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, in voting conducted by the head coaches and sports information offices. The Explorers become the first Philly school to take both honors in the same week this season.

Chism batted .444 (8-for-18) with seven runs scored and four RBI for La Salle. He had two doubles and a home run in four games and leads the Explorers in runs (31), RBI (30), average (.382), on-base percentage (.517) and slugging percentage (.697). He ties Temple's Carmen Del Mastro as the only two city players to earn a pair of honors.

Fuqua allowed one earned run in 6.2 innings to give La Salle a 5-3 victory over Xavier on Saturday. He scattered eight hits and struck out two to improve to 3-2 with a 3.98 ERA this season. This is his first honor of 2009, but took home two awards during his rookie campaign.

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