March 21, 2008

UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - Just like the home runs, the awards keep coming for Billy Barber. The freshman was honored as the collegebaseballinsider.com National Player of the Week on Thursday, days after the freshman was tabbed a Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week, named to the College Baseball Foundation National Weekly Honor Roll and tabbed the Atlantic 10 Player and Rookie of the Week.

Barber dismantled the opposition last week to the tune of a .500 average (12-for-24), with six home runs, 16 RBI and a dazzling slugging percentage of 1.375. The freshman helped the Spiders go 3-2 over its five road contests, taking two of three from Charleston Southern, handing William & Mary just its fourth loss of the season and nearly upsetting Duke.

Already this week, Barber is making a strong case to defend the accolades as three of his five hits have been long balls with nine RBI, five runs scored and a .625 average. Behind Barber's bat, the surging Spiders (9-11-1) have won four consecutive.

The Fredericksburg, Va. native has now homered in five-straight games, while his hitting streak has reached six. Coming off Thursday's performance in which Barber clubbed his first career grand slam, he leads the club with a .431 average, 10 homers, 35 RBI and a 1.000 slugging percentage.

The Spiders continue their three-game Atlantic 10 series versus La Salle Friday at Pitt Field. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.