Ward picks up NEC Player of the Week honors

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Bryant University baseball redshirt sophomore Ryan Ward (Millbury, Mass.) was named the Northeast Conference Player of the Week on Tuesday.

Ward, an All-American Second Teamer as a rookie, bumped his batting average up 32 points to .371 last week. The left-handed swinging outfielder recorded multiple hits and at least one RBI in all five games. He logged extra-base hits during all five starts en-route to a 1.000 slugging percentage. Leading a lineup that averaged 11.0 runs per outing, Ward batted .545 (12-for-22) with four doubles, two home runs, nine RBI and seven runs scored. He doubled in his first at-bat of the week, leading off a mid-week battle at UConn with a two-bagger and coming around to score the game's first run two batters later. One day later, Ward went 4-for-5 in an 11-7 triumph over Ivy League member Brown. The 5-foot-11 outfielder logged six hits and seven RBI during the Bulldogs' three-game weekend sweep of America East member Hartford. He belted a three-run bomb in the third inning of the series opener, an 8-5 triumph. Ward went deep again in Game 2. His fifth-inning solo blast came three frames after he delivered a two-run double that gave Bryant an early 4-1 lead in an eventual 15-4 victory. Ward broke a 3-3 tie in the second inning of the series finale, shooting an RBI double into the right-centerfield gap.

Ward was also named a Collegiate Baseball Newspaper National Player of the Week on Monday.