Copeland named Big East Player of the Week

Ben Copeland was given Big East Player of the Week honors for his much-needed turnaround in a… Ben Copeland was given Big East Player of the Week honors for his much-needed turnaround in a three-game sweep of the Canisius Golden Griffins last weekend.

The junior center fielder batted .636 in the series, scoring seven runs and knocking in five base runners.

His most impressive performance came in Pitt’s (10-5) 13-3 victory in the second game of the series. He went 4-for-4 at Trees Field Saturday, with four runs scored and four RBIs.

Standing at the plate in the fifth inning, needing a double to complete the cycle, he smashed a home run to right field instead.

“He crushed it, too,” head coach Joe Jordano said.

It was his second homerun of the game and the season, as he hit a ball over the fence in Pitt’s leadoff at bat in the game. He added a single later in the first, as Pitt batted around, scoring eight runs in the first frame. Copeland tripled to right field in the third and was sent home on a Jim Negrych double.

Copeland had one more chance to hit a double in the sixth inning, but he never saw a pitch he liked, drawing the walk.

“To hit for the cycle is hard,” Jordano said. “You can’t try for it. If it happens, it happens.”

In Pitt’s 9-0 series-opening win against the Golden Griffins, Copeland went 2-for-3, with a walk and a stolen base. He scored a run in Pitt’s eight-run fourth inning after he was walked, later crossing home plate on an RBI double from Negrych.

On Sunday, Copeland was a full-fledged kleptomaniac, stealing three bases in Pitt’s 11-3 win. He hit a single in the first inning and made his way to third by stealing two consecutive bases. He then scored the game’s first run on a single from Mike Megale.

Stealing bases is nothing new for the junior, as he has stolen 16-of-17 bases so far this season.

Jordano commented yesterday that he was happy to see Copeland earn the Big East honors for the second time in his career.

“It’s well deserved,” Jordano said, “[and it] was encouraging because he struggled in the last couple of games in Florida.”

In the three-game series against Temple in Boca Raton, Fla., Copeland was a combined 2-for-12 at the plate, striking out six times, as Pitt dropped two of the three games.

Copeland’s batting average is now up to .393 on the season. Prior to the series against Canisius, he was batting .340. He now has scored a team-high 21 runs on another team-high 24 hits. His two triples, slugging percentage of .607 and on-base percentage of .507 also lead the team.

Jordano explained how it was important for him to turn it around. And he picked a perfect time to get back on base with the team as Big East play starts tomorrow at Trees Field against Seton Hall. Pitt will play a doubleheader against the Pirates beginning at noon.

Pitt is also in action today against Cleveland State at Trees Field, with the first pitch at 3 p.m.