BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Bridgewater State University junior second baseman Sean Riley has been selected as the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Baseball Division III New England Hitter of the Week.
A native of Fairhaven, Massachusetts, Riley batted .471 (8-17) with three doubles, a triple, a home run, three walks, seven runs scored and six RBI in a 4-1 week for the Bears.
Riley opened the week with a 3-for-7 performance at the plate with a triple, a homer, and four RBI in a MASCAC doubleheader sweep of Mass. Maritime. He also went 4-for-5 and reached safely in seven of eight plate appearances in a conference split with Salem State as the Bears clinched the conference regular season title outright.
Riley banged out three doubles, walked three times, scored two runs and drove in five in the two games with the Vikings as he eclipsed the Bears' single-season record for total bases. Riley, who now has 115 total bases on the season, surpassed Chad Cambra's previous mark of 111 set in 2003.
Through 40 games for the Bears this season, Riley is batting .395 (58-147) with 24 doubles, six triples, seven home runs, 49 runs scored and 37 RBI. He is currently sporting a .782 slugging percentage as well as a .467 on base percentage.
Heading into this week's MASCAC Tournament, Riley leads the conference in doubles, triples, home runs, runs scored, total bases and slugging percentage, and is tied for first in hits and tied for second in runs batted in with teammate David Pierce (East Bridgewater, Mass.). He is also second in the MASCAC in batting and on base percentage and tied for sixth in walks.
Riley is also leads all of Division III with his 24 doubles and ranks fourth nationally in total bases, 11th in slugging percentage and 15th in triples.
Bridgewater is the top seed in the conference tournament for the first time since the 2004 season. The Bears (27-13, 12-2 MASCAC) will host fourth-seeded Salem State in first round action on Thursday afternoon at three.