Tuesday, April 1, 2003
MEDFORD – Tufts University Baseball pitcher Jon Lee (Manhasset Hills, NY/Herricks) and Lacrosse goalie Luke Chicco (Merrick, NY/Calhoun) were recognized as New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Co-Players of the Week on Monday. The pair was honored as part of the conference's first selections of the new 2003 spring season.
Lee pitched the second no-hitter of his Tufts career on Saturday (Mar. 29) versus Bates College. Using a sharp curveball that he threw for strikes 18 of 24 times to set up his fastball, Lee mowed down the Bobcats in an 8-0 victory. He threw just 82 pitches in seven innings and was one walk and a Tufts error away from a perfect game. He retired 11 Bobcats in a row at one point and finished with eight strike outs. He did not allow a base runner to reach second. His previous no-no was against NESCAC rival Bowdoin College on May 7, 2000 during his freshman season. Lee shared this week's NESCAC Baseball Player of the Week award with Trinity infielder Kurt Piantek. This is the fifth NESCAC Player of the Week award won by Lee, but the first since 2001. He previously won it once as a sophomore in 2001 and three times as a freshman in 2000. The Jumbos moved to 8-4 overall and 3-0 in the NESCAC East Division with a weekend sweep of Bates.
Chicco posted an outstanding 4.67 goals against average and 79.4 save percentage in 90 minutes of action for the Men's Lacrosse team last week. He was at his best in the second half of an 8-5 NESCAC win against Trinity College. With the game tied 2-2 at halftime, Chicco helped Tufts earn the victory by making 15 saves in the second half on 18 Bantam shots on net. He finished with 20 saves overall as Tufts improved to 4-1 overall and 1-0 in NESCAC. He had seven saves and allowed two goals while playing the first half of a 17-3 win over Gordon on Wednesday (Mar. 26). He is currently leading the NESCAC with a 5.67 goals against average overall. Connecticut College's Kevin Burke also earned a share of the NESCAC Men's Lacrosse Player of the Week award.
Lee and Chicco both came to Tufts from Long Island.
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