University of Richmond Athletics
Matt Zielinski Named A-10 Rookie of the Year; Four Others Spiders Garner All-Conference Honors
05/22/2007 | Baseball
May 22, 2007
DAYTON, Ohio - Freshman left-handed pitcher Matt Zielinski was named the Atlantic 10 Conference's Rookie of the Year, while senior Alex Wotring, and juniors Joe Mahoney, Brian Alas and Alex Hale were named to the Second Team in voting conducted by the conference's head coaches. The league awards were announced Tuesday afternoon.
The third-seeded Spiders begin play in the A-10 Championship Wednesday afternoon versus sixth-seeded St. Bonaventure at 3:30 p.m. ET in Dayton.
Zielinski, who becomes Richmond's first A-10 Rookie of the Year in baseball, has enjoyed an impressive rookie campaign for the third-place Spiders. Hailing from Southampton, Pa., the starting pitcher leads the Spiders with a 3.47 earned run average and is second on the staff with 66 strikeouts and six wins on the season. The southpaw is a two-time Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week selection and boasted a 12-inning scoreless streak toward the end of the season. He fanned a career-best 10 in seven shutout innings to beat George Washington and went seven more shutout innings with four hits and four K's to beat Saint Joseph's. His first career complete game came at Massachusetts, where he surrendered just one earned run.
Wotring is bringing his Richmond career to a close by leading the team in average (.333) and is second in home runs (6) and third in RBI (41). The three-year captain slugged .508 for the season and had eight three-hit games to lead the team. The Bethesda, Md. native finished the regular season with 17 multi-hit games, never went more than one game without a hit and owned a team-leading 12-game hitting streak in the mid-season.
Mahoney was among the conference's leader in the power numbers, which includes his Atlantic 10-best 16 home runs. The junior first baseman slugged .597 overall and .587 in conference play, while also stealing a career-high 16 bases in 19 attempts. Mahoney went on a mid-season tear against the conference with six homers, 22 RBIs and 15 runs in a sizzling nine-game stretch. A native of Troy, N.Y., he was 4-for-4 with a double and homer in Richmond's upset of No. 11 Wichita State and drove in a career-best eight RBIs in a win over Fordham. He was the only Spider to play and start in all 56 games.
Hale won four consecutive conference starts and was Richmond's leader with seven wins, 87 strikeouts and 86.0 innings pitched. The Omaha, Neb. native was 5-1 against the conference, which included a seven-inning performance with one earned run and nine strikeouts against Rhode Island. A catcher up until the middle of last season, Hale owned an impressive strikeout-to-walk ratio of +2.29.
Alas continues to build on the Richmond single-season records for saves (13) and appearances (33) he set this season and leads the A-10 in both categories. The junior fanned 59 against 23 walks for a team-leading ratio of +2.59. Blowing just one save all season, Alas was called on for two saves in a series twice - against Rhode Island and Temple - and converted all four. A native of Port Washington, N.Y., he fanned six in 3.2 innings versus Liberty and seven in 3.2 innings versus Delaware.
St. Bonaventure's Brian Pellegrini was tabbed the A-10 Player of the Year, while Charlotte's Adam Mills earned Pitcher of the Year honors. Loren Hibbs of first-place Charlotte was recognized as Coach of the Year.
