June 4, 2010

Complete Big 5 Release and All-Big 5 Team in PDF Format

PHILADELPHIA - After winning a program-best 14 Atlantic 10 Conference games and advancing to the A-10 Championship, La Salle Baseball has been honored by the Philadelphia Big 5 with its most postseason honors and picks up four major awards.

The Explorers were named the Team of the Year in a vote conducted by the areas Division I head coaches and sports information directors, while Head Coach Mike Lake took home Coach of the Year honors. Two players were honored as Pat Christensen earned the Rookie of the Year and Brendan Norton was voted the Student-Athlete of the Year.

Norton was also named to the Big 5 All-Academic Team and the All-Big 5 Team at third base. Joining the sophomore as 2010 All-Big 5 was Christensen as a relief pitcher, sophomore first baseman Jon Gyles, sophomore starting pitcher Eric Van Wyk, and senior outfielder John Malloy.

In 2010, Lake guided the Explorers to its most wins (22) since the 1999 season. He has improved his win total by three in each of his first three seasons and has steadily improved the team's numbers on the mound and at the plate, which also helped him earn A-10 Coach of the Year as well.

By the end of the season, La Salle either bested the 1999 team or finished right behind them in 15 categories. Of the stats the Explorers now hold as the most (since being a member of the A-10 - 1996) are at-bats (1,880), triples (18), stolen bases (62), saves (12), innings pitched (464), strikeouts (355), and putouts (1,392). They are second in batting average (.293; 1999-.309), games (54, 56), runs (310, 397), hits (550, 561), RBI (276, 342), total bases (742, 820), sac flies (20, 22), and wins (22, 27).

The top individual haul in 2010 was pulled in by Norton, who adds the three honors earned from the Big 5 to his three prior honors from this year, A-10 All-Conference Second Team and Academic All-Conference and CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine First Team Academic All-District 2.

For the season, Norton led La Salle in eight offensive categories, including average (.400), 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). He was once named the Big 5 Player of the Week (March 30).

In the latest NCAA statistical release, he is ranked in seven categories, and in the top 100 in three - average (62nd), on-base percentage (45th) and walks per game (99th). He becomes La Salle's first .400 hitter since 1996.

Christensen earns his two honors from the Big 5 on the heels of being named to the A-10 All-Rookie Team and he was once named the Big 5 Pitcher of the Week (May 18).

In his first year in the Blue and Gold, Christensen stepped into the Explorers' closer role and solidified himself as one of the best ever at the school in just one season. Not only has he won four games out of the pen, but he also set the single-season school record for saves with his 10th on May 20, a win that ultimately sent the Explorers into the postseason.

Overall, he saved 11 games, including La Salle's lone victory in the A-10 Championship, a 10-8 victory over Fordham on May 26, which is third all-time in a career at the school. The 11 saves also led the A-10 Conference and are tied for 16th in the country. He is also ranked in two other NCAA categories - Earned Run Average (192nd, 3.99) and Strikeouts per Nine Innings (125th, 8.79).

Earning the second straight honor for La Salle at first base was Gyles, repeating the honor TJ Chism picked up in 2009. This sophomore was one of just 21 players in the country to hit for the cycle in 2010 and was in the top three for the Explorers in 12 offensive categories and was a two-time Big 5 Player of the Week (Feb. 24 and April 20).

He led La Salle in doubles with 21, the second-most ever in a single season at the school, RBI (47), which was eighth all-time, and hit by pitch (16). Gyles was second in slugging percentage (.502) and on-base percentage (.429), and was third in average (.343), at-bats (207), hits (71, tied for ninth all-time), triples (3), total bases (104, tied for 11th), and walks (16).

In the latest NCAA statistical release, he is ranked in the top 100 in four categories including hit by pitch (72nd), doubles (74th) and doubles per game (81st, 0.39), and 82nd in hit by pitch per game (0.3).

Another sophomore named to the Big 5 Team, Van Wyk is La Salle's third starting pitcher to make the squad. Once named Big 5 Pitcher of the Week (May 3) after his seven-plus, one-hit outing at Fordham in which he struck out five in a 3-0 victory on April 30.

During the regular season, Van Wyk led La Salle with a 7-1 mark in nine starts, which were all A-10 series openers and the Explorers were 8-1 in those starts. The seven wins are the most at the school since 1999 and are fifth all-time in a single season. Overall, he was 7-2, posted a 5.73 ERA in a team-high 81.2 IP with 58 strikeouts. In A-10 only games, he held a 4.01 ERA in 60.2 IP with 42 strikeouts, and opponents hit just .241. Those league-only numbers ranked him tied for first in wins, third in opponents BA, and 14th in ERA.

His highlight starts included wins over Dayton (7.2 IP/3H/1R/5K) on Feb. 26, at Xavier (5.2IP/4H/1R/4K) on April 9, versus A-10 champion Saint Louis (9 IP/5H/5R/5K) in his first complete game on May 7, versus St. Bonaventure (6.1IP/5H/0R/5K) on May 13, and at Massachusetts (7.0 IP/8H/3R) on May 20.

Last, but certainly not least, is the Explorers selection in the outfield. Malloy becomes just the second La Salle player to be a three-time All-Big 5 selection, joining former teammate John Rickards (2006-08, second base). The two-time A-10 Honorable Mention left his name all over the La Salle record books in his final season at 20th and Olney.

The two-time Big 5 Player of the Week (March 16 and May 17) led the team in at-bats (228), total bases (106, ninth most in school history), fewest strikeouts (14), and fielding percentage (.994, with 164 putouts). He was second on team in runs (43), hits (74, sixth most in school history), doubles (14, tied-sixth most), home runs (4), RBI (41), walks (21), and stolen bases (13). His 16.3 at-bats per strikeout ranks him 29th in the nation in toughest to strikeout.

Malloy became school's all-time career hits leader (275), and is also first in at-bats (846) and doubles (57) and is second in total bases (405), sixth in stolen bases (40), seventh in runs scored (148), and ninth in RBI (119).