April 29, 2008

PHILADELPHIA - La Salle University junior pitcher Drew Gerhart threw seven scoreless innings in the Explorers 1-0 victory on Saturday versus Rhode Island to earn him his first Philadelphia Big 5 Baseball Pitcher of the Week award.

Gerhart scattered four hits and struck out four for his third win of the season, while not allowing a hit to the last 20 batters he faced.

He did walk seven batters and had 11 batters reach base, but three of them were erased on caught stealing attempts by catcher Zack Feierstein.

The 1-0 victory for the Explorers was their first since defeating Dayton, 1-0, on April 16, 2005 and gave La Salle its first four-game winning streak since 2003.

Temple freshman Byron McKoy was named the Philadelphia Big 5 Baseball Player of the Week in this weeks voting conducted by the schools' head coaches and sports information offices.

McKoy won his second straight Big 5 honor after batting .571 (8-for-14) with two doubles and two home runs for the Owls. The freshman also stole three bases and scored a team-high seven runs. The Charlotte, NC native his safely in all four games during the week, extending his hitting streak to 11 games. 

Formed with the mission of increasing the exposure of college baseball in the area, Philadelphia Big 5 Baseball is comprised of the five Division I universities in Philadelphia that sponsor baseball. The Big 5 will announce a Player and Pitcher of the Week every Tuesday during the season. The third annual All-Big 5 baseball team will be announced at the conclusion of the season.