April 17, 2002

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - Bemidji State senior outfielder Ben Woodford has been named the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Baseball Player of the Week for April 16, the league office announced yesterday.

Woodford was the sparkplug for a BSU offense which recorded a .396 team batting average during a 5-1 week against NSIC opposition - including a 3-1 series win over then-NSIC co-leader Wayne State. Woodford hit .542 as BSU’s leadoff hitter with a .593 on-base percentage, and led the team with 13 hits last week in 24 at-bats. He scored a team-high 11 runs and drove in five more - accounting for 16 of BSU’s 67 runs scored last week (23.9%). He hit two doubles and a triple last week, and also bunted for a hit.

Although he played well in a double-header sweep of UM-Crookston on April 10, hitting .375 with an RBI and two runs scored, Woodford simply terrorized Wayne State. In that four-game series, Woodford was 10 for 16 at the plate (.625) with a .667 on-base percentage as BSU’s leadoff hitter. He scored a team-high nine runs and drove in four others. In the four game series, Woodford put together games of 2 for 4 with two runs scored, 3 for 5 with three RBI and three runs scored, 2 for 2 with two runs scored and 3 for 5 with one RBI and two runs scored.

Woodford’s exceptional week at the plate helped him extend his still-active hitting streak to 14 games, the longest hitting streak by a BSU player this season. He struck out just once in 24 at-bats last week (.042 strikeout pct).

BSU dropped to 12-8 with a double-header sweep at North Dakota State yesterday and plays an NSIC double-header at UM-Crookston later this afternoon. The twinbill will cap the season series between BSU and UM-Crookston, as the Beavers swept an April 10 double-header between the rivals in Bemidji, 16-2 and 9-3.