University of Richmond Athletics
Surging Cowell Named A-10 Baseball Player Of The Week Again
05/16/2011 | Baseball
May 16, 2011
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND - For the second time in three weeks, Richmond junior Chris Cowell has garnered recognition from the Atlantic 10 as the Spider slugger was named the conference's Player of the Week. Cowell paced Richmond with a .583 average and two homers last week.
Cowell, who was also named the A-10 Player of the Week May 2, enjoyed another big offensive week, as he went 7-for-12 at the plate (.583) with two homers, a double, seven RBI and four runs. His production paced the Spiders, who took a crucial A-10 series from Saint Louis and scored 27 total runs - the most allowed by the Billikens in a conference series this season.
Richmond stands at 25-23-2 overall and is in a fourth-place tie in the A-10 at 12-9 entering the final regular season weekend.
The Devon, Pa. native had at least a hit in all four games last week, including two in each game of the three-game set against SLU. He launched a two-run homer late in Friday's game as the Spiders scored four runs in the seventh inning but were denied the comeback victory.
Saturday, Cowell drew a lead-off walk to trigger a five-run fourth inning as Richmond took the lead for good at 7-4 and in the seventh inning, he ripped a three-run double that gave Richmond insurance in the 12-7 win. Sunday, Cowell came through in the clutch again as his solo shot in the fifth tied the game at 3-3 as Richmond eventually won 10-8 in comeback fashion.
The junior catcher owns the league's third-best batting average in A-10 play (.393) with four homers and six doubles. After starting the season hitting 6-for-40 (.150) with no homers and one RBI, he's hitting at a 30-for-80 clip since with five homers, nine doubles and 15 RBI as has his average has climbed to .300 on the season.
The Spiders enter their final weekend with a myriad of scenarios to clinch a spot in the six-team A-10 Tournament -- the simplest is two wins over Saint Joseph's combined with one loss by St. Bonaventure.
The Saint Joseph's series begins Thursday at 12 p.m. at Campbell's Field in Camden, N.J. and live streaming audio of all three games can be heard on the Spider Sports Network.
