PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Senior left fielder Hank Coogan was named to the 2008 Atlantic 10 Baseball All-Conference Second Team, while freshman first baseman Mike Mergenthaler and freshman designated hitter Billy Barber were tabbed All-Rookie selections in voting conducted by the league's head coaches. The awards were announced Tuesday.

Coogan finished fourth in the A-10 this season with a .364 batting average and the senior ended his Richmond career as a .326 hitter in 177 games played. The local product and graduate of nearby Douglas Freeman High School hit safely in 21-consecutive games late in the season, on the heels of a 15-game streak earlier in the year and was held hitless in just six contests all season.

He batted .370 in conference play, while posting 17 doubles, a team-leading three triples, six homers and 40 RBI. Coogan, who had 22 multi-hit games and 11 multi-RBI games, collected four outfield assists over a five-game stretch late in the season. He was named a University of Richmond scholar-athlete.

The only Spider to play in all 53 games, Mergenthaler was held hitless in just 11 games during his freshman campaign, while finishing with a .287 average, nine doubles, six homers and 35 RBI. The first baseman from Rockland, N.Y. hit safely in 19-consecutive games midway through the season, a mark that stands as the third-longest by a freshman in A-10 history. Mergenthaler led the team among every-day starters and was among the A-10 leaders in fielding percentage at .993, making just one error in conference play.

Barber was bothered by a nagging thumb injury over the final two weeks of the season, yet still finished as the team leader in homers (13), RBI (45) and slugging (.703). The Fredericksburg, Va. native was named the National Player of the Week once and was a back-to-back A-10 Rookie of the Week pick after a torrid stretch that saw the freshman hit .500 (12-for-24) with six homers, 16 RBI and a 1.375 slugging percentage over five game stretch in late March. Barber homered in five-consecutive games mid-season and finished third in the A-10 in long balls and second in slugging.

The Spiders finished the 2008 season 20-31-2 overall and 10-16-1 in A-10 under first-year head coach Mark McQueen, who inherited a club that lost six of its top seven hitters from the 2007 campaign.