Volume 3, March 25, 2008

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Yale's RYAN LAVARNWAY (Woodland Hills, Calif.) hit .467 (7-for-15) last weekend to extend his season average to .383. He also slugged .867 and had an on-base percentage of .652 in five games against Presbyterian and Radford. Against Presbyterian on Thursday, Lavarnway went deep in back-to-back at-bats for the second time this season. His first homer, a two-run shot, was his 27th career long ball, setting a new Yale record for career home runs. In his next at-bat, Lavarnway’s three-run blast gave the Bulldogs a 9-8 lead. The next day at Radford, his two-run single with two out in the top of the eighth tied it at 7-7. Yale eventually won the game, 8-7. Lavarnway leads Yale with eight home runs, 22 RBIs and 15 runs scored, and is tied for the team lead with a .383 average.

PITCHER OF THE WEEK

Penn's JEREMY MAAS (Alpharetta, Ga.) got the weekend started properly for Penn against Mount St. Mary’s. He went six innings to earn his first collegiate win in Penn’s 6-3 win in game one of a four-game series with The Mount. Maas allowed only two runs – both earned – on seven hits while striking out six. He twice struck out the #4 and #5 hitters with two on and one out to escape jams.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK

Brown freshman catcher MATT COLANTONIO (Garden City, N.Y.) continued to lead the Brown offense, posting a team-high .538 average over three games as the Bears began a six-day, seven-game road trip through North Carolina and Virginia. He had three hits in each of Brown's wins, driving in four runs in Brown's 25-9 win over Hartford on Saturday, then driving in two more in a 13-12 win over UNC Asheville on Sunday. For the season, Colantonio leads the Bears with a .424 average and .525 on-base percentage, playing in all 10 games, starting nine. He has played errorless ball behind the plate.

THE HONOR ROLL

Harvard freshman right-handed pitcher ANTHONY NUTTER (Escondido, Calif.), struck out three and did not allow a hit in 2.0 innings of relief in his only appearance of the week at 19th-ranked San Diego on Saturday.

Columbia first-year player NICK COX (Lake Mary, Fla.), the lead off hitter for Columbia, hit .347 in the five games against Davidson and Liberty. Seven of Cox's eight hits were in the series against Liberty, and four of his hits were doubles. The centerfielder also scored five runs for Columbia, and had four stolen bases.

Brown senior JJ ENO (Kahului, Hawaii), continuing to play first base for the first time in his career, had a great weekend at the plate with a team-high .786 slugging percentage in three weekend games. Eno had at least two hits in each game, including three in a 13-12 win over UNC Asheville on Sunday. His home run in the seventh inning of the Asheville win was crucial in the one-run victory. On the year, Eno has a .361 average and a team-high .528 slugging percentage. He has started eight games, playing in all 10, moving over to first base so the Bears could get his bat into the lineup.

After a slow start to the season, Penn's WILLIAM GORDON (Lagrangeville, Ga.) came out of his slump over the weekend during a four-game series with Mount St. Mary’s. Over the four games, he was 5-for-14 with 4 RBI and 3 runs scored. His four runs driven in were the first of the season. He also had two home runs (including one of the inside-the-park variety). Gordon also took the save in the 7-6 win for the Quakers. It was his first save of the season.

STEVE GILMAN (Annandale, N.J.) appeared in three games last week, picking up a save in the Bulldogs’ 8-7 win over Radford on Friday. Yale’s closer, he threw 3.2 scoreless innings to extend his streak to 7.1 consecutive scoreless innings to start the season. Gilman gave up just three hits and one walk while striking out four in the three outings. He also went to bat for the first time since high school in the final game of the Radford series, drawing a walk in his first collegiate plate appearance.

Cornell third baseman/catcher NATHAN FORD (Palo Alto, Calif.) batted .485 for the week for the Big Red in Florida, going 11-for-24 on the week with two doubles, a home run and 11 runs batted in. He had at least one hit in every game including going 3-for-4 with three RBI against #4 Miami in Coral Gables. He also went 3-for-6 with four RBI against Long Island in the first of two games, then was 2-for-6 in the second game against the Blackbirds.

In a 2-3 week for Dartmouth down in Florida, senior co-captain DAMON WRIGHT (Dallas, Texas) hit at a .412 clip with seven hits, five runs scored and 10 runs batted in. Wright's breakout performance came in a heartbreaking 8-6 loss to Big 12 foe Kansas as he connected on homeruns in back-to-back plate appearances. His two homers accounted for five of the six runs scored in the contest. He hit his third homer of the week with a two-run blast in the game two 19-18 win for the Big Green. Wright also contributed with two sacrifice flies.

2008 AWARDWINNERS

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Mar. 11 — Ryan Lavarnway (Yale) & Jack Murphy (Princeton)
Mar. 18 — Tom Stack-Babich (Harvard)
Mar. 25 — Ryan Lavarnway (Yale)

PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Mar. 11 — Russell Young (Dartmouth)
Mar. 18 — Brandon Josselyn (Yale)
Mar. 25 — Jeremy Maas (Penn)

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Mar. 11 — Corey Pappel (Cornell)
Mar. 18 — Geoff Whitaker (Columbia)
Mar. 25 — Matt Colantonio (Brown)