Gasper, Ward earn NEC weekly honors

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Northeast Conference has named Bryant University baseball senior Mickey Gasper (Merrimack, N.H.) and redshirt-freshman Ryan Ward (Millbury, Mass.) its player and rookie of the week, respectively, on Monday.

Gasper earns the fourth player of the week nod of his career, while the rookie of the week honor is the second for Ward.

In three games at the Army Invitational, Gasper went 7-for-11 with two doubles, six RBI, five runs scored and a .688 OBP. He broke out of his early season slump by going 3-for-5 with two doubles and a career-high four RBI vs. Army. Gasper clubbed a pair of two-run doubles in the contest. The following day, he went 2-for-3 with an RBI, a run scored and a walk as the Bulldogs won their first game of the year. Gasper closed the weekend by reaching safely five times with two hits, two hit by pitch and a walk in a win over Niagara.

Ward's second career rookie of the week honor comes just over a year after he earned his first. He picked up NEC Rookie of the Week honors after the first weekend of his collegiate career but missed the rest of the season with an injury. Now healthy, Ward has picked up right where he left off, going 6-for-14 with a double, four RBI, four runs scored and three stolen bases. In the first game of the weekend, he went 3-for-5 and scored a career-high three runs. Ward followed that up by driving in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth against Boston College on Saturday. In the finale, he went 1-for-3 with two walks, two RBI and a career-high three stolen bases. Ward's sac fly in the sixth broke a 5-5 tie as the Bulldogs went on to victory.

The Bulldogs return to the diamond this weekend when they open their spring break trip at the University of Maryland. Bryant's three-game set with the Terps begins on Friday at 4:00 p.m.