April 9, 2007

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara freshman catcher Tommy Medica was named West Coast Conference Baseball Player of the Week on Monday after turning in a sterling performance that helped the Broncos capture a crucial road series in San Francisco. Behind Medica's hot bat, Santa Clara took two of three games on the against the San Francisco Dons, keeping the Broncos in a three-way tie for second place in the WCC standings at 4-2.

Medica, a San Jose native and former All-CCS performer out of Bellarmine College Prep, batted .706 (12-for-17) over four games last week, with a double, two triples, four runs scored, and a slugging percentage of 1.000. Batting in the leadoff spot in all four games, Medica also posted an on-base percentage of .706.

"Tommy is obviously well deserving of this award, he had a tremendous week and most importantly he helped our team to two solid road victories against a very solid USF team," said Santa Clara head coach Mark O'Brien. "We fully expect Tommy to continue to work hard and keep improving everyday as a player. He is fun to watch and brings a good level of toughness and competitiveness to our team."

The conference honor highlights Medica's seven-game tear since returning to the Santa Clara lineup full-time after suffering a hand injury in early February that forced him to miss 10 games. In the past seven games, Medica has hit safely in each contest, with six multi-hit efforts, including a 5-for-5 performance in last Saturday's 10-6 win over San Francisco.

Over this current seven-game hitting streak, Medica is batting .621 (18-for-29) with five doubles, two triples, seven runs scored, and a .931 slugging percentage. On the year he leads the Broncos with a .397 batting average.