Stephen Batts
After posting his second straight nearly flawless performance in defeating Notre Dame, Rice junior RHP Ryan Berry has been named the Conference USA Pitcher of the Week for the second week in a row and the sixth time in his career. The Hitter of the Week honor went to East Carolina senior OF Stephen Batts, who batted .533 while helping the Pirates to 3-1 week.
One week after earning National Pitcher of the Week honors after defeating then-No. 1 Texas A&M, Berry held Notre Dame to just two hits and no runs in a complete game shutout victory on Saturday. Berry struck out eight batters without allowing any walks (0). In a closer look at the Humble, Texas native’s second-consecutive gem, he had eight (8) three-up, three-down innings, never faced more than four batters in any inning and was one over the minimum with 28 batters-faced (one of Notre Dame’s base-runners was erased while attempting to steal second base). Berry threw only 102 pitches on the afternoon in recording the 21st win in his collegiate career.
Batts hit a team-best .533 (8-for-15) last week with two home runs, three doubles and four RBI. He also led the squad with a 1.133 slugging percentage, .632 on-base percentage and was a perfect 3-for-3 on the base paths. The Wilmington, N.C. native extended his current hitting streak to 12 games, dating back to the 2008 season, the second longest active streak on the team. After going 1-for-4 against ODU, Batts collected multi-hits in all three games at the Holiday Inn Eagle Invitational going 3-for-4 (HR and 2 RBI) against Le Moyne, 2-for-3 (HR and GW RBI) against Indiana and was 2-for-4 versus Georgia Southern. He also scored eight runs on the week and walked three times.
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