BIG EAST Baseball Players of the Week

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FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Junior Andrew Barbosa became the third straight USF pitcher to earn BIG EAST weekly baseball honors after a convincing performance against Cincinnati on April 2. As BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week, Barbosa was joined by Louisville senior first baseman Andrew Clark as BIG EAST Player of the Week for the week’s recognitions.

Barbosa threw a complete game, three hit shutout in USF’s 5-0 victory over Cincinnati on April 2. Barbosa struck out a career-high 16 batters, just one shy of the school record of 17. Of his 16 Ks, 14 were swinging. He struck out the side in both the fourth and fifth innings and struck out a batter in every inning except the ninth. Barbosa did not allow a runner to reach third base and saw only two Bearcat runners reached second. Of his 128 pitches, 100 were strikes. He only walked one batter, which came in the ninth inning. He faced just seven batters over the minimum.

In Louisville’s four wins last week, Clark hit .556 (10-for-18) with four home runs, 10 RBI, nine runs scored and a slugging percentage of 1.333. The senior started the week with a game-winning two-run homer against Indiana with two outs in the ninth inning to lift the Cardinals to a 5-4 win over the Hoosiers on March 30. In the series-opening win over Villanova on April 1, Clark finished 5-for-5 with two home runs, including his third career grand slam, and five RBI overall. The series sweep of VU put the Cardinals in a three-way tie for first place in the BIG EAST standings.

Honor Roll

Jeremy Baltz, St. John’s, Fr., LF

7-14, .500 AVG, 5 R, 9 RBI, 2 2B, 1 HR, Team: 4-0

Casey Gaynor, Rutgers, Sr., RHP

1-0, 9.0 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 SO, 1 BB, Team: 2-1

Dean Kiekhefer, Louisville, Jr., LHP

1-0, 9.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 5 SO, 1 BB, Team: 4-0

Rand Ravnaas, Georgetown, Sr., CF

6-13, .462 AVG, 1.309 SLG, 6 R, 6 RBI, 2 2B, 3 HR, Team: 2-1

George Springer, Connecticut, So., OF

5-12, .417 AVG, 6 R, 2 RBI, 1 HR, 4-for-4 SB, Team: 3-0

The BIG EAST is the largest and most diverse Division I conference in the country. It was formed in 1979 and represents the athletic interests of 16 member institutions including the University of Cincinnati, University of Connecticut, DePaul University, Georgetown University, University of Louisville, Marquette University, University of Notre Dame, University of Pittsburgh, Providence College, Rutgers University, St. John’s University, Seton Hall University, University of South Florida, Syracuse University, Villanova University and West Virginia University. The BIG EAST Conference has captured 27 national championships in six different sports and is a founding member of the Bowl Championship Series. For more information on the Conference and its membership, please visit www.bigeast.org.