June 2, 2010

PHILADELPHIA - In his final game of the 2010 season, Brendan Norton went 3-for-3 against Rhode Island to raise his batting average to .400, becoming the first Explorer to end the season at the mark or above since Brian Schaller in 1996. For that effort, he has been selected as La Salle's Student-Athlete of the Week.

Norton ends his sophomore campaign as one of just 14 first or second-year players (13 So., 1 Fr.), at this point, with a .400 average or better in NCAA Division I Baseball. He is currently tied with two others for 63rd in the country in batting average as just 65 players have attained the feat in 2010.

Getting to the mark was not an easy task, however, despite his early success. His average was as high as .450 after a 2-for-4 day at Xavier on April 10, a day he extended his career-high 16-game hitting streak that included 12 multi-hit contests. His streak ended the next day, though, and he went 4-for-16 in his next six games as his average dipped to .395.

Over the last five weeks of the season, he would raise it as high as .397 three times - on May 8 after a 4-for-5 game versus Saint Louis, on May 15 after a 2-for-4 effort versus St. Bonaventure, and after a 3-for-3 day in his last regular season game at Massachusetts on May 22.

Hours after the game ended, La Salle was informed it had qualified for the Atlantic 10 Baseball Championship and Norton would have at least two more games for the mark.

Unfortunately, he went hitless in three at-bats in the first game versus Rhode Island, but battled back going five for his last eight and 3-for-3 in the final game to reach the mark.

On Friday, May 28, in the eighth inning of the suspended game, Norton laced a 1-2 pitch to right field and saw his average reach .400 for the first time since April 18, while La Salle saw its first .400 hitter since 1996.

For the season, Norton led La Salle in eight offensive categories, including average, hits (80 - third most in a single season in school history), runs (51, tied for fifth most), triples (4, tied for seventh most), walks (37), slugging percentage (.525), on-base percentage (.498) and was second in total bases (105, 10th most).

In the latest NCAA statistical release, he is ranked in seven categories, and in the top 100 in three - average, on-base percentage (46th) and walks per game (99th).

Norton earned three honors this year for his efforts on and off the field, picking up a pair from the Atlantic 10, Second Team and Academic All-Conference, while also earning a spot on the CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine First Team Academic All-District 2 team.