University of Pittsburgh Athletics
Three Panthers Earn All-Big East Honors
5/22/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Three Panthers Earn All-Big East Honors
5/22/2003
Bryan Spamer led the Panthers in batting, runs scored, hits, stolen bases and slugging percentage. |
PITTSBURGH
Spamer (Harrisburg, Pa./Redlands) earned his second straight all-conference honor after being named to the third team last year. The junior shortstop, a second-team selection, led the Panthers in batting (.375), runs scored (50), hits (69), stolen bases (17) and slugging percentage (.554). He also set a single-season school record for walks with 41 and ranks among the school?s top 10 all-time list in six categories entering his senior year.
Capping off one of the most productive careers in Panthers? history, Rykaceski (Pittsburgh, Pa./Woodland Hills) earned his first All-Big East award (second team) after starting all 56 games. Rykaceski batted a career-best .342 with 68 hits and 49 runs. He also tallied a team-best 18 doubles, which tied for the most in school history, and added a 17-game hitting streak midway through the year. Rykaceski finished his career as the school?s all-time leader in walks (92) and was second in career at-bats (654), hits (214), runs scored (143) and doubles (40).
In his first year with Pittsburgh, Scanzano (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee) batted .332 with 64 hits and 36 runs, earning third-team plaudits. He also led the team in triples (4), hit-batsmen (9) and multiple-hit games (22) while stealing a team-high nine bases in conference action. Scanzano?s four triples rank third on Pittsburgh?s single-season list.
The Panthers finished the season with a 36-20 overall mark and 13-13 in the Big East. The 36 wins tied for the second-most in school history and its 72 wins in the past two years is the highest total in that span in Pittsburgh history.
