Ward named Collegiate Baseball Newspaper All-American
SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Collegiate Baseball newspaper recognized Bryant University baseball redshirt freshman Ryan Ward (Millbury, Mass.) as a Third Team All-American on Thursday.
Ward becomes the seventh All-American in DI program history, joining Peter Kelich, Kevin Brown, Craig Schlitter, Robby Rinn, Matt Albanese and James Karinchak. He is just the third Bulldog to earn All-American honors from Collegiate Baseball newspaper.
The Northeast Conference and New England Player and Rookie of the Year, Ward put together the greatest offensive season in program history this spring. He hit .409 with 101 hits, 22 doubles, five triples, eight home runs, 52 RBI, 51 runs scored and just 10 strikeouts in over 260 plate appearances. Ward ranks first nationally in hits per game, second nationally in total hits, fourth in batting average, fifth in toughest to strikeout and sixth in total bases.
Ward's magical season included a program-record 30-game hitting streak, a 40-game on-base streak and 29 multi-hit games. He set single-season DI program records in average, hits and total bases and became just the third player in DI program history to record 50+ RBI and 50+ runs scored in the same season.