Ben Copeland Named Big East Baseball Player of the Week
4/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Ben Copeland Named Big East Baseball Player of the Week
4/18/2005
Ben Copeland earned Big East Player of the Week honors for the second time this year. |
PITTSBURGH
Copeland (Bradford, Pa./Bradford), a 2004 All-Big East second-team selection, guided the Panthers to a 4-1 record this past week, including taking 2-of-3 games in a conference series against Villanova. For the week, he batted .591 (13 of 22) with 10 runs scored, four doubles, two triples, three home runs and nine RBIs. Copeland also finished with an astounding 1.364 slugging percentage and a .615 on-base percentage for the five-game stretch.
In the Panthers? 17-15 victory over Akron, Copeland drove in a career-high seven runs and finished 2-for-4, including a three-run homer. He followed that outing with a 3-for-5 effort as Pitt defeated city-rival Duquesne the following afternoon. Copeland broke the school?s career record for triples during that game, finishing with two for the game and upping his career mark to 13.
Over the three-game series against Villanova this past weekend, Copeland hit .615 (8 of 13) as the Panthers captured two of the three games. He blasted two home runs in the series opener, his first multi-home run game of his career, and also added two doubles in the 8-3 victory on Sunday over the Wildcats.
For the year, Copeland is batting .392 with 41 runs scored, five triples, five home runs and 27 RBIs. He has a league-best 20 stolen bases and has 12 doubles on the season.
Pitt returns to action on Wednesday as it travels to Kent State?s Gene Michael Field. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. as the Panthers look for the season sweep over the Golden Flashes as Pitt triumphed, 12-2, earlier this year at Trees Field.