IL1 International League

Ottawa's Collier Hits .524; Indians' Van Benschoten Wins A Pair

May 14, 2007 - International League (IL1) News Release


The International League announced today that Ottawa outfielder Lou Collier and Indianapolis pitcher John Van Benschoten have been named the League's Batter and Pitcher-of-the-Week for the period from May 7-13. Collier is the first member of the Lynx to win an IL weekly award in 2007. Van Benschoten was preceded by Indians catcher Ryan Doumit, who was named Batter-of-the-Week for April 16-22.

Ottawa's LOU COLLIER is playing in his 450th career game in the International League today, and for the first time he has been named the circuit's Batter-of-the-Week. Collier earned the honor by scorching opposing pitchers in Louisville and Indianapolis for a .524 average (11-21) with a homer and 6 RBI over the last six games. Collier's week began with back-to-back three-hit performances at Louisville Slugger Field, leading the Lynx to a pair of wins May 8-9. Collier went 3-5 Tuesday, including his first home run of the year, a three-run blast in the 3rd inning. The following day Collier went 3-3 and drove in two more runs, giving him six hits and five RBI in less than 24 hours. The offensive outburst by Collier raised his batting average from .267 to .323 in a single week, and also more than doubled his RBI total on the year from 5 to 11.

33-year-old Lou Collier is in his 14th season as a professional player. He has played in 315 Major League games with Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Montreal, Boston, and Philadelphia. He spent the last two seasons playing in Korea. His last season in the IL came in 2004 with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, when Collier hit .326 with 14 HR and 66 RBI and was named to the post-season International League All-Star Team. Collier is a native of Chicago, IL.

John Van Benschoten allowed just one earned run in two starts this week, both victories, as he helped the Indianapolis Indians remain in 1st place in the IL West Division. Van Benschoten took the hill on Monday, May 7, and turned in his fourth outing of the year in which he did not allow an earned run. He held the Syracuse Chiefs to four hits in 7.0 innings, striking out six. The Tribe won the game 3-0. Five days later Van Benschoten made his second start of the week, this time against the Ottawa Lynx. He came away with another win by holding the Lynx to just one run on seven hits in 7.0 innings in a contest won by Indianapolis 5-2. With just one run surrendered in 14.0 innings this week, Van Benschoten has lowered his ERA to 1.82, good enough for 3rd in the International League and tops among his Indianapolis teammates.

27-year-old John Van Benschoten is finally back in Triple-A following surgeries to both shoulders that caused him to miss the entire 2005 season and most of the 2006 campaign. He made his return last August, going 2-1 in four starts between Double-A Altoona and Indianapolis. He made both his Major League and Triple-A debuts in 2004, going 1-3 with a 6.91 ERA for Pittsburgh and 4-11 with a 4.72 ERA for Nashville. Van Benschoten is a native of San Diego, CA.

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