WEEKLY SPOTLIGHT:  Baseball’s Blake Rice… the epitome of the student-athlete

Rocky Mount, NC - In 2006, baseball pitcher Blake Rice (pictured)accomplished just about everything imaginable.  He was achieved All-American status after posting a 10-3 overall record that included a program-record 12 complete games.  He was named the NCAA South Regional’s Co-Most Valuable Player and led his Bishops to their twelfth appearance in the Division III College World Series.  He led the USA South in wins and innings pitched en route to Conference Pitcher of the Year honors.  He finished the season with 2.68 earned run average in 111.0 innings pitched, which including a complete-game no-hitter against Piedmont on February 19th. 

So what could Rice, now a senior, possibly do in 2007 to meet the expectations set by last year’s performance?  He began on Sunday by throwing the second no-hitter of his career, a dominating seven-inning complete game performance that saw him face just two batters past the minimum and strike out seven in a 2-0 win over Frostburg State.  His 7th-ranked Bishops, in fact, finished the weekend with a 5-0 record to start the season.

What many people fail to realize, however, is the type of person Rice is off the field.  His academic accomplishments rival those of the most elite students.  A mathematics major, he has been named NCWC’s Male Student-Athlete of the Year for the past two seasons and has posted two 4.0 semesters during his collegiate career.  He has been named to the Academic All-District baseball team, as well as the President’s List and the Academic All-Conference team on numerous occasions.  Perhaps most impressively, he became the first Bishop male athlete in history to win the USA South’s prestigious Don Scalf Award last season, which he accepted this past fall at Wesleyan’s football home opener.

It doesn’t end here, though.  As a member of Coach Charlie Long’s squad, Rice completes at least eight hours of community service each year and has volunteered as a tutor on campus.  His community service includes such projects as raising money for the Rocky Mount area’s Relay For Life campaign, helping coordinate a Little League Clinic, and participating in a reading program at Benvenue Elementary.

To many, these accomplishments may somehow make Sunday’s no-hitter seem less impressive.  But did you know that there have been only four no-hitters in the storied history of a Battling Bishop baseball program that has two National Championships to its credit?  Four no-hitters… and two now belong to Rice.  What will he do next to further separate himself as the one of the greatest student-athletes to put on a Wesleyan uniform?

I’m sure he’ll think of something.