June 1, 2009
Philadelphia Big 5 Complete Release in PDF Format 
PHILADELPHIA - La Salle University had four members of its baseball team - first baseman TJ Chism, center fielder John Malloy, starting pitcher Kevin Fuqua, and relief pitcher Christian Schulz - pick up honors from the Philadelphia Big 5, in voting conducted by the city's head coaches and sports information offices and released today.
Chism, who enjoyed one of the most production seasons by an Explorer in over a decade, batted .310 with 47 runs (tied for eighth all-time in a single season at the school), 53 hits, 10 doubles, 11 home runs (tied for third), 50 RBI (tied for sixth) and 15 stolen bases. He also drew 34 walks and was hit by a pitch 16 times.
The junior fell one run scored shy of averaging at least 1.0 run and 1.0 RBI per game (he played in 48 games), and would have become just the third Explorer ever to accomplish the feat (minimum 40 games played).
The last player to have a chance was Mike Fuchs, who in 1999 scored 48 runs and had 57 RBI in 55 games played. The only to players that have done it are Sam Boone (1985) with 73 runs and 63 RBI in 51 games and Steve O'Donnell (1989) 53 runs and 65 RBI in 44 games.
Returning to the All-Big 5 team after a year absence is Malloy, who in 49 games, batted .329 with 36 runs, 70 hits (tied for 10th), 19 doubles (second all-time), eight home runs, 35 RBI, stole 11 bases, had 113 total bases (fourth), and struck out just 22 times in 213 at-bats.
During the year, Malloy reached base in all but two games the entire year and hit safely in 24 of the 26 Atlantic 10 Conference games, including the last 16 straight.
With the success of his junior campaign, Malloy tied Barry Petrachenko (1985-88) for the most hits through three seasons at the school with 201, which is also the seventh-most in a career at La Salle. He is also already on the career list in three other categories - fourth in doubles (45), and 10th in total bases (299) and at-bats (618).
Fuqua earns his first postseason honor from the Philadelphia Big 5 after earning four Pitcher of the Week awards in his first two seasons with the Explorers. The sophomore led the Explorers in innings pitched (87.2 - sixth in a single season), strikeouts (50), games started (13 - tied eighth), complete games (2) and tied for the team-high with four wins. He also posted a 4.52 ERA.
Combining his past two seasons at 20th and Olney, the righty is on the career list in six categories. Those include ERA (4.33, eighth), games started (27 - tied eighth), complete games (8 - fourth), shutouts (1 - tied sixth), innings pitched (189.0 - 10th) and strikeouts (127 - eighth).
Schulz, who was cited for his productivity on the field as well as in the classroom, is one of five guys to make the Academic Team. The southpaw was once named Big 5 Pitcher of the Week after throwing four innings of scoreless relief to earn his first career save in a 5-2 season-opening win at Duke.
He then went on to be La Salle's best pitcher out of the pen. In 12 of his 22 outings, he threw at least 1.0 innings and did not allow an earned run. In eight of those, he did not allow any runs, including three times (at Duke, vs. Lehigh, and at Maryland) throwing 4.0 innings.
He won his three games versus Cornell, and Temple, and at Charlotte, while he earned saves at Duke and versus Atlantic 10 Champion Xavier. He finished the season with a 4.04 ERA and 25 strikeouts.
For see the complete release and the entire Philadelphia Big 5 Team, click on the attachment at the top of the page.
