Owens named NEC Player of the Week

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Bryant University baseball sophomore Sam Owens (Scituate, R.I.) has been named the Northeast Conference Player of the Week.

Owens went 4-for-12 with two doubles, a home run, four RBI and three runs scored in three games against the nation's top-ranked team, LSU.

The sophomore catcher, who hit .333 and struck out only once in 12 at-bats, scored one run in each of Bryant's three battles at No. 1 Louisiana State. He logged two-hit, two-RBI performances in both the series opener and Sunday's finale. Owens plated the Bulldogs' first run of the series by lacing a fourth-inning, one-out double on Friday. He touched 'em all later in the game, leading off the eighth frame by launching a solo blast to left field.

Owens was held hitless during Game two, but reached base on a fourth-inning HBP and eventually came around to score. With Bryant hoping to hand LSU its first loss of the season, Owens delivered at multiple key junctures during Sunday's one-run setback. As he did in the opener, the second-year Bulldog drove in Bryant's first run of the finale. Cutting into a 2-0 deficit in the top of the fourth, Owens belted a two-out double that chased Jimmy Titus (Stafford, Conn.) home. He plated a second run by connecting on a two-out single in the sixth inning. Following the RBI hit, Owens proceeded to steal second base before scoring the tying run on a Gaby Cruz (Miami, Fla.) single.

The Bulldogs open a three-game series at Virginia Tech on Friday. First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.