Fitzgerald named Big East Co-Player of the Week

Standout wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, a Pitt sophomore, had eight catches for 207 yards… Standout wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, a Pitt sophomore, had eight catches for 207 yards and two touchdowns against Rutgers on Saturday, and that was only in the first half.

Despite not registering another catch the rest of the day; the Big East Conference has named Fitzgerald its Offensive Co-Player of the Week for his performance.

Only six games into the season, Fitzgerald already has 13 touchdown catches, which matches the Big East single-season record set by Pitt’s Terry Murphy in 1997.

With his two touchdown catches against Rutgers, Fitzgerald extended his streak of consecutive games with a touchdown to 12, one shy of the national record set by Charles Rogers at Michigan State. Rogers currently plays for the Detroit Lions in the National Football League.

Last weekend marked the halfway point for the college football season, and the midseason accolades for Fitzgerald were plentiful. He has been named the nation’s “Best Offensive Player” by usatoday.com in its midseason awards listing and was also named a “Midseason All-American” by sportsillustrated.com along with collegefootballnews.com.

For the season, Fitzgerald, a Heisman trophy candidate, has 45 receptions for 869 yards and 13 touchdowns, which is tops in the nation.

Pitt Baseball Honored by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper>

Pitt Baseball Head Coach Joe Jordano has been taking the appropriate steps to turn the Panthers’ baseball program around. Most recently, the Panthers 2003 recruiting class received honorable mention from Collegiate Baseball Newspaper’s 21st annual breakdown of top NCAA Division I baseball-recruiting classes.

The 2003 class includes seven pitchers, three infielders, one outfielder and a catcher. Joining the Panthers are left-handed pitcher Mike Bassage (Hornell, N.Y.), right-handed pitcher Ryan Devlin (Chambersburg, Pa.), right-handed pitcher John Hay (Poland, Ohio), right-handed pitcher Billy Keyes (Hagerstown, Md.), outfielder Tony Marciante (Connellsville, Pa.), right-handed pitcher Paul Nardozzi (Victor, N.Y.), infielder Jim Negrych (Buffalo, N.Y.), catcher Peter Parise (Bronx, N.Y.), infielder Peter Perry (Greensburg, Pa.), infielder Edgard Sucre, right-handed pitcher Matt Tokarczyk (Piitsburgh, Pa.) and left handed pitcher David Wagner (Johnstown, Pa.).

The Panthers are coming off their second straight 36-win season. They open their season on the road against New Orleans Feb. 20-22.