May 3, 2010
PHILADELPHIA - La Salle University freshman pitcher Pat Christensen has been named the Atlantic 10 Conference's Rookie of the Week for his effort this past week, which included notching a pair of saves for the Explorers in a 2-2 week.
Last Tuesday, Christensen came into a 3-2 ballgame in the eighth inning at Penn State and closed the door on the Nittany Lions. He surrendered just two hits in his two innings of work and struck out three, including two after allowing a lead-off single in the ninth.
He got the final out of the game on a grounder to second to help La Salle register its first win over a Big Ten team in more than 13 years. The bullpen combined for five scoreless innings in the contest with nine strikeouts and three hits.
He came back three days later to pick up his eighth save of 2010 as he completed a gem thrown by starter Eric Van Wyk. Tossing a one-hitter over seven frames, Van Wyk walked the first batter of the eighth inning.
Christensen struck out the first batter he faced, allowed a single, then got another K and a pop-up to end the frame.
In the ninth, a harmless run scored before he finished the game with a grounder to short to get his fourth conference save of the season in the 6-2 victory at Fordham.
Christensen has either won or saved six of La Salle's nine conference wins this season and 11-of-15 overall. He is 3-4 this season with 40 strikeouts in 37 innings pitched and posts a 4.62 ERA.
His eight saves are one shy of the single-season save record at La Salle, as Gerard Breslin (2004-07) posted nine saves in a pair of seasons (2005 and 2007). His eight saves already rank him fifth on the all-time career saves list.
His 20 appearances in 2010 ties him for third in the conference, as a pair of pitchers lead the A-10 with 21 games pitched. His eight overall saves are tied for first with Rhode Island's Gardner Leaver, but Leaver leads in A-10 only saves with six, while Christensen is tied for second with Massachusetts' Leif Sorenson with four.
Christensen becomes just the sixth Explorer to pick up an A-10 Rookie of the Week honor, while its the 10th overall honor for the baseball team. Teammate John Malloy earned four (Feb. 19, March 12, April 16, and May 21) during his rookie campaign of 2007 and Kevin Fuqua is the only other player to earn multiple honors in 2008 (March 10 and April 21). Other honorees include Bryan Harvey (March 19, 2001), Kenny Elkind (March 27, 2006), and Sean Kennedy (May 5, 2008).
With the honor, La Salle has now picked up an A-10 Player of the Week, a Pitcher of the Week, and a Rookie of the Week in the same season for only the second time in its 15 years in the conference as Jon Gyles (player, April 19) and Kevin Christy (pitcher, March 29) picked up the other awards this season and its the third most honors for a single season.
The most weekly honors earned in a single season was during the 2007 season (6), which was also the only other time La Salle earned all three honors. John Rickards (2005-08) picked up the player award (Feb. 19), Breslin earned the pitcher honor (April 16), to go with Malloy's four rookie nods.
La Salle (15-26, 9-9 A-10) will take the week off before returning to action hosting Saint Louis (23-22, 10-8 A-10) in another key conference series starting Friday at 3 PM. The Explorers are 9-7 at Hank DeVincent Field this season with a 6-3 mark in A-10 games.
