Ruhlman Named BIG EAST Player of the Week
3/16/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
NEW YORK, N.Y. - Senior D.J. Ruhlman (Belle Mead, N.J.) was named BIG EAST Baseball Player of the Week on Monday. Teammate Alex Falconi (Freeport, N.Y.) was named to the Weekly Honor Roll.
Ruhlman had been mired in a slump, like many in the Pirates lineup, prior to getting to Port Charlotte, going just 4-for-29 in the season's first nine games. In the four games last week however, he batted a robust .733 with three home runs and 12 RBIs, and now has his season average up to .341. On Tuesday, he went 3-for-4 with a home run, triple, four runs scored and four RBIs vs. Florida International. Against Saint Joseph's on Wednesday, Ruhlman reached base four times going 2-for-4 with two walks, a double, a stolen base and a run scored. On Friday, he went 4-for-5 with two doubles, five RBIs and a home run vs. Lehigh. Finally, he reached base all five times on Saturday vs. Western Michigan. The senior went 2-for-2 with a home run, three RBIs, two walks and a hit-by-pitch.
Falconi was also instrumental in guiding the Pirates to a perfect 4-0 record at the Snowbird Classic last week. The backstop batted .529 in four games and scored a team-best 10 runs. On Tuesday vs. Florida International, Falconi reached base four times, going 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a hit-by-pitch. Against Saint Joseph's on Wednesday, he reached base four times again, going 3-for-5 with a team-best four runs scored, a double, an RBI and a hit-by-pitch. Finally, on Sunday, Falconi went 2-for-4 with three runs scored, two RBIs and two stolen bases. This is the first time he has received a weekly recognition by the BIG EAST.
Georgetown's Matt Smith was named BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week. Those joining Falconi on the Honor Roll include: Creighton's Reagan Fowler, Georgetown's Joseph Bialkowski, St. John's Thomas Hackimer and Villanova's Mike Sgaramella.
