April 11, 2005

KINGSTON, R.I. - University of Rhode Island junior left-handed pitcher Zack Zuercher (Warwick, R.I./Pilgrim HS) was named the Atlantic 10 Baseball Co-Pitcher of the Week after throwing a complete-game three-hitter with 12 strikeouts to earn the win against Richmond on Saturday.

This is the first Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Week honor of the season for Zuercher, who received the award three times last season and was the conference's Pitcher of the Year. He is now 2-0 in Atlantic 10 games, after throwing a complete-game three-hitter with 12 strikeouts to earn the win in the Rams' 14-1 victory over Richmond on Saturday. It was the second time in three conference starts that Zuercher has pitched a complete-game three-hitter with 12 strikeouts.

Zuercher had a one-hit shutout going into the sixth inning Saturday when he gave up a solo home run and single, but he struck out the last six batters he faced to finish the game. He has reached double-figures in strikeouts in all three of his Atlantic 10 starts this season and has 10 double-digit strikeout games in 18 career stars in a Rhode Island uniform.

In 11 Atlantic 10 starts over the past two seasons, Zuercher is 8-1 with eight complete games, three shutouts, 121 strikeouts and a 2.59 ERA. He has allowed only 42 hits in 76 1/3 innings.

The defending Atlantic 10 regular-season champion Rams (11-14, 7-2) are in first place in the East Division and have won 10-straight Atlantic 10 series. Rhody is 27-4 in their last 31 Atlantic 10 regular-season games after becoming the first Atlantic 10 team to sweep Richmond in a conference series this weekend. Rhode Island won by scores of 10-1, 14-1 and 9-4, combining to outscore the Spiders 33-6 and out-hitting Richmond 40-14 for the three games.