Ryder Mathias Signs With The Tampa Bay Devil Rays
6/13/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 13, 2005
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Former Wake Forest designated hitter/catcher Ryder Mathias signed with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays this past weekend. Mathias will report directly to the Hudson Valley Renegades of the New York-Penn League.
Mathias (Lewisburg, Pa.) had a solid four-year career with the Demon Deacons. He played in 153 games over his career, starting 136 of them. Mathias finished with a career .294 batting average, 20 home runs and 118 RBI.
A fifth-year senior this past spring and the last remaining member of the 2001 ACC Tournament Championship team, Mathias had the best season of his career. He batted .316 with 17 doubles, 12 home runs and 58 RBI. Mathias exploded over the final three weeks of the season. In the Demon Deacons last 20 games, he batted .372 with nine home runs and 29 RBI.
Mathias also finished his career the holder of two Wake Forest school records. Mathias was plunked a school record 29 times (second most in the NCAA) in 2005 and his 42 career HBP is also a career record.
Wake Forest finished the 2005 campaign with a 28-30 overall record and 12-18 in the ACC. The Deacs not only improved their overall win total by 11 games from 2004, but they also captured eight more games in ACC play. The 11-game improvement in victories was the largest over one season since 1997. That season, Wake Forest won 37 games after winning just 26 in 1996. The school record improvement from one season to the next was 15-games set by the 1949 team which was the runnerup at the College World Series.
-- WakeForestSports.com --