UTICA, NY – SUNYIT senior Dan Orza (Pleasant Valley, NY/Arlington) has been selected as the North Eastern Athletic Conference West Division* Baseball Student-Athlete of the Week for the period ending April 24. It is the first time this season and second time in his career that Orza has been awarded the honor.
Orza had one of his best weeks of the season to help the Wildcats to a 3-1 record during that time period. The 5-foot-11 outfielder batted .500 on the week, going 6-for-12 with six RBI, all of which were spread out amongst the team's three wins on the week. The RBI total gave him 77 career runs batted in and left him just two short of being the program's all-time leader in that category, which he then achieved with two RBI during a sweep of conference rival Cazenovia College yesterday.
Orza leads the team in both RBI (23) and sacrifice flies (6), while currently being ranked 18th in the nation in the latter category. He is batting .264 on the year with three doubles, six stolen bases, eight runs scored and 17 walks drawn.
The Wildcats finished the regular season a program-best 22-12 overall and took first place in the NEAC West with a record of 12-2. They will now host the NEAC West Divisional Tournament this Friday and Saturday at DeLutis Field in Rome, NY, which has been the home site of all SUNYIT baseball contests this season due to the on-campus construction of both the $20 million field house and the new Wildcat Baseball Field. Start times have yet to be determined.
Directions to DeLutis Field can be found here.
*Beginning with the 2010 season, North Atlantic Conference (NAC) members Castleton, Husson, Lyndon State, Maine-Farmington and Thomas will play in the NEAC as associate members in the East Division. Each division will hold a championship and the two divisional champions will meet for a three-game series to determine the conference champion. The conference winner will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship.