Five Bulldogs Have Earned Awards This Season

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Yale first baseman Eric Hsieh has been named the College Sports Madness Ivy League Baseball Player of the Week and freshman outfielder Tom Ruddy has been named Ivy League Rookie of the Week due to their outstanding performances in wins over Hartford and UMass-Lowell last week.

Hsieh (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) currently leads all of Division I baseball with a .525 batting average (21-for-40), which includes two 5-for-5 games at the plate this season in wins over Towson and Hartford.

In the two games last week, the Bulldog senior was 7-for-8 with four walks, three RBI and four runs scored. Between the Hartford and UMass-Lowell matchups, Hsieh had reached base on 11 consecutive at-bats before grounding out in the eighth inning of the Lowell game.

Hsieh was 2-for-3 with three walks in the 8-7 extra-inning win for the Elis against the River Hawks on Thursday, while proving to be unstoppable in a 23-8 win over Hartford on Tuesday, going 5-for-5 with three RBI.

Hsieh is the second Bulldog this season to be named the CSM Ivy League Player of the Week, following in the footsteps of teammate Richard Slenker (Pound Ridge, N.Y.), who earned the award last week.

Ruddy (Sparta, N.J.) has been a big addition to the Bulldog outfield this season, currently hitting .333 (9-of-27) in 10 game appearances, seven of which were starts. The freshman has two doubles and six RBI to this point in the year, earning his first Ivy League recognition this week.

In the two victories last week, Ruddy went 5-for-11 at the plate (.455 average) with two doubles, four RBI and three runs scored. He also stole a base and recorded a .455 on-base percentage. The first-year outfielder proved to be a vital offensive piece in the 23-8 win over Hartford, going 4-for-7 with two RBI and two runs scored.

Known for his speed, Ruddy has a perfect .1000 fielding percentage in the outfield, proving it hard for opposing batters to hit the ball in an uncovered place. Ruddy is coming off an outstanding career at Sparta High School, being named West Jersey Player of the Year in 2014.

Hsieh, along with freshman pitcher Mason Kukowski (Katy, Texas), were also named to the Ivy League Weekly Honor Roll in the latest awards given out by the league office. Kukowski threw three stellar relief innings in the 8-7 win over UMass-Lowell, earning his second win of the season (2-0).

Kukowski has a team-low 2.45 ERA in eight appearances, which includes one save. In 11 innings of work on the mound, the freshman righty has allowed only three earned runs, while holding a 10-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Filed by Steve Lewis, Yale Sports Publicity