July 16, 2008
Former University of Dayton righthander Craig Stammen has been named the Bank of America Eastern League Pitcher of the Week for the week ending July 13. In two starts for the AA Harrisburg Senators last week, he went 2-0 with a 0.64 ERA in wins over Altoona and Bowie.
Stammen has been with the Senators after being promoted on June 21 from Class A Potomac. Since being called up to AA, he's 2-1 with a 1.67 era in 32.1 innings pitched. Stammen appeared in 15 games with Potomac earlier this season with the last nine as the starting pitcher. He also pitched in one game, a two-inning relief appearance, for AAA Columbus.
A native of Versailles, Ohio, Stammen was originally drafted by the Washington Nationals in the 12th round of the 2005 MLB Draft. He pitched three years for the Flyers and ended his career as UD's "Strikeout King" with 185 punch outs, which now ranks second all-time. He ranks third in career saves (10), fourth in appearances (60), fifth in career innings pitched (231.2) and complete games (12).
In his final season as a Flyer in 2005, Stammen was 9-6 with a team-best 2.80 ERA which also ranked fourth in the Atlantic 10 Conference. He was second in the conference with 106.0 innings pitched and sixth with a career-high 77 strikeouts. Stammen was UD's Opening Day starter and remained in the top starting role throughout the season, starting 15 games. His nine wins are the second-most in Flyer single-season history and he surrendered two earned runs or less in 10 of his starts and pitched six innings or more 14 times. Stammen's final game of the 2005 season was a seven-strikeout, complete-game win over Duquesne, which was Dayton's first-ever A-10 Tournament victory. Also a strong competitor in the classroom, Stammen was selected to the A-10 Academic All-Conference Team while leading UD to a school-record 36 wins. As a sophomore, he collected nine saves, UD's single-season record.
He was his team's Opening Day starter for three straight seasons (UD in 2005, Savannah in 2006 and Potomac in 2007), but off-season knee surgery forced him to begin the 2008 season in the Potomac bullpen.
Dayton had a 31-25 overall record in 2008 to finish seventh in the 14-team Atlantic 10 Conference. UD posted its fifth 30-win season in program history, which have all come since 2001 under the direction of head coach Tony Vittorio. The Flyer pitching staff was one of the best overall in the nation with a 4.24 ERA that led the A-10 and was 31st in Division I.
