May 24, 2004

VILLANOVA, PA. - On Monday, May 24th, Villanova University senior Adrian Schau (Novato, Calif./ Marin Catholic College Prep) was named Big East Conference Co-Player of the Week for his efforts in leading the Wildcat baseball team to four conference wins last week.

Schau wound down his Villanova career in fine fashion this past week, leading the Wildcats to four Big East wins as the program surpassed the 30-win mark for the second time in three seasons. For the week, he batted .400 (8-for-20) in five games with seven runs scored, two doubles, three home runs, 10 RBI and three stolen bases. Schau also had 56 putouts and one assist from his first base position.

With hits in every game last week, Schau ended the season with a 13-game hit streak. He had multi-hit games twice last week, had multi-RBI in three of the five games and hit home runs in three of the five games. In two games at Georgetown on Monday, May 17th, Schau went a combined 5-for-11 with four runs, one double, two home runs and four RBI. In a three-game sweep of Rutgers this past weekend (on May 21-23), he had a double, a home run and knocked in six runs. Schau set season and career-highs with three stolen bases and four RBI on Sunday.

Schau did it all for the Wildcats in 2004, as the team's closer out of the bullpen as well as their starting first baseman. At the plate, he ended the season batting a team-best .330 (58-for-176) with 38 runs scored, a team-high 13 doubles, six home runs (tied for the team lead) and 30 RBI. On the mound, Schau led the team and was among the Big East leaders in saves with six. He finished the year 1-3 with six saves and a team-best 1.57 ERA. In 23.0 innings of work, he allowed just four earned runs on 23 hits, striking out 26 and walking eight.

Schau's career, which began with him making the Villanova team as a walk-on in 2000-01, took its most significant turn last season. He was drafted in the 40th round of the 2003 Major League Baseball Draft by the Cleveland Indians. Schau chose to bypass the professional ranks and returned to Villanova to finish his career and pursue his degree.

It is a good thing for the Wildcat program that he did, as Schau helped lead Villanova to a 17-game improvement from last season. The `Cats finished the 2004 season with a 31-20-1 record - 17 more wins than last season's 14-32 mark. Villanova also finished sixth in the Big East with an 11-14 record - up four spots from last year's 10th place (6-19) finish.

Last week at the 11th annual Senior Student-Athlete Awards Banquet, Schau was named the Villanova Senior Student Athlete Award winner. Three days later on May 23rd, he graduated from Villanova University with a degree in finance.

Schau now awaits his next destination with the 2004 Major League Amateur Draft approaching on June 7-8, 2004.