May 22, 2006

CLEVELAND - Announced by the league today, Ohio's Anthony Gressick has been named the Mid-American Conference East Division Player of the Week and Yale Silverman has earned Pitcher of the Week honors following their performances in a three-game sweep of Bowling Green last week.

Mid-American Conference Release (.pdf)
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Gressick, a senior from Lancaster, Ohio, hit .538 (7-for-13) against Bowling Green and was part of two walk-off victories in his final week as a collegian. With the game tied 6-6 and two outs in the bottom of the ninth in the first game of Friday's doubleheader, Gressick singled, stole second, then scored the winning run all the way from second on an infield single. On Senior Day, Gressick almost single-handedly delivered the Bobcats a victory. Down 7-1, the Bobcat slugger cranked his first homer of the day in the sixth to begin the comeback, added his second round-tripper to tie the game 7-7 in the seventh, then had a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the ninth, sending Ohio to a 12-11 victory. He finished the series with three homers, five RBIs and six runs scored.

In the final game of his career, Silverman tossed a complete game four-hit shutout as the Bobcats defeated Bowling Green in the second game of Friday's doubleheader. The complete game was the first of his career and the shutout was the first for Ohio in 2006. After surrendering a single to the first BGSU batter he faced, the Falcons didn't get another base-knock until the seventh inning. The senior right-hander from Baton Rouge, La., retired the Falcons in order in the second-through-fifth innings, finished with seven strikeouts against just one walk, and allowed a total of six BGSU batters to reach base.

Willie Walker was the only other Bobcat player to previously garner league honors this season. The outfielder earned East Division Player of the Week recognition on April 10.

Today's announcement marks the fifth time during Gressick's career that he has captured a MAC weekly award. In 2005 he became the first player since the league began its weekly honors to capture both the pitcher and player awards in the same week.

The honor is the first of Silverman's career.

Ball State infielder Brad Miller was named the MAC West Division Player of the Week while southpaw James Ricchio of Central Michigan captured Pitcher of the Week recognition.

The series sweep of Bowling Green gave Ohio a 22-25 overall record and a 14-13 mark in MAC competition.

The Ohio program will draw the year to a close and hand out team awards with its annual team banquet on Monday, May 29. Gressick and Silverman are two of the three members of the 2006 senior class along with pitcher Derek Witt.