HICKS NAMED RRAC P.O.W.
April 25, 2006

WACO, TX:  Billie Hicks of Texas Wesleyan University and Andrew Taccolini of Houston Baptist University (Texas) split the award for Red River Athletic Conference Baseball Player of the Week, while HBU’s Matt Weible was recognized as the RRAC Baseball Pitcher of the Week for the dates of April 17-23.

Hicks, a junior shortstop from Arlington, TX, was 12-for-20 at the plate in a 4-2 week for the Rams including 6-for-12 in a key three-game weekend series sweep against University of Texas of the Permian Basin. He was 2-for-4 in the series opener with two RBIs, and he went 2-for-3 in the capper with a double and three RBIs. Hicks also drove in a pair of runs earlier in the week in a loss to Huston-Tillotson College (Texas), finishing the week with eight RBIs and six runs scored. Texas Wesleyan climbed to third place in the RRAC North Division at 7-5 in conference play and 25-19 on the season securing their spot in next week’s conference tournament.

The Rams begin a three-game series with Paul Quinn on Wednesday.  Texas Wesleyan could clime into the RRAC North division’s second position with a three game sweep.  In a scheduling change, all three games will be played in Fort Worth at LaGrave Field.  Wednesday’s game is scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m.  Thursday’s doubleheader will be played at Sycamore Park.

Taccolini, a freshman outfielder from Sugar Land, Texas, helped HBU clinch the RRAC South Division with a three-game sweep of second-place Bacone College (Okla.) this weekend. In the series, he was 6-of-13 with a pair of home runs and six RBIs including going 3-for-4 in the middle game and 3-for-5 in the finale. He blasted his homers in back-to-back games on Saturday and scored five runs. HBU completed conference play at 14-1 and finished the season at 35-14-1.

Weible, a junior right-hander from Katy, Texas, garnered the victory in the middle game of the Huskies’ series with Bacone with a three-hit shutout. HBU won the game 8-0 as Weible struck out nine and walked none.