Dowd, Ingui, Lerud, Vazquez land on First Team

RINDGE, N.H. (May 21, 2009) – Freshman catcher Mike Dowd (East Bridgewater, Mass./Cardinal Spellman) of the Franklin Pierce University baseball team has been named East Region Rookie of the Year by the American Baseball Coaches Association, as announced Thursday. In addition, seven Ravens were named to the ABCA’s All-East Region teams.

Sophomore designated hitter Derek Ingui (Sterling, Mass./Wachusett Regional), senior left fielder Ted Lerud (Hampden, Mass./Minnechaug Regional) and junior right-hander Kyle Vazquez (Berlin, Conn./Berlin) all join Dowd on the All-East Region First Team. Meanwhile, senior left-hander Tom Cote (Swanzey, N.H./Univ. of Massachusetts), sophomore right-hander Rob Nicholas (Northboro, Mass./Algonquin Regional) and junior right fielder Kevin Rivers (Bristol, Conn./Bristol Eastern) all garnered All-East Region Second Team selections.

Dowd, a true freshman, led the Ravens in hitting by 24 points this season, with a .380 batting average (78-for-205) which was also good for fourth in the Northeast-10 Conference. He led the Northeast-10 in on-base percentage (.450) and also ranked in the top 10 in the conference in seven other categories. Dowd finished the season tied for second in the Northeast-10 in hits, ranked fourth total bases (116), tied for fourth in doubles (15), tied for fifth in runs scored (47), ranked seventh in slugging percentage (.566) and tied for seventh in runs batted in (43) and home runs (7). Twice during the season, he was named Northeast-10 Conference Freshman of the Week and has already chalked up numerous postseason awards. So far this spring, Dowd has been selected Daktronics All-East Region First Team, Northeast-10 Conference Co-Freshman of the Year, All-Northeast-10 Conference First Team and Northeast-10 Conference All-Rookie Team.

Ingui finished second on the team with a .356 batting average (78-for-219) which put him seventh in the Northeast-10. He led the conference in triples (7) and total bases (134), while placing in the conference’s top 10 in six other categories. Ingui finished the season second in the Northeast-10 in runs scored (53), tied for second in hits, third in slugging percentage (.612) and runs batted in (47), tied for third in home runs (9) and tied for fourth in doubles (15). Ingui was named Northeast-10 Conference Player of the Week twice during the season and also already owns a bevy of postseason accolades. Earlier this spring, Ingui was selected Daktronics All-East Region Second Team, All-Northeast-10 Conference First Team and CoSIDA/ESPN: The Magazine Academic All-District I Second Team.

Lerud finished his senior campaign third on the team with a .321 batting average (61-for-190) and placed among Northeast-10 leaders in run production. He finished tied for fourth in the conference in runs batted in (46), tied for seventh in home runs (7) and 11th in total bases (94). Lerud was named to the Northeast-10 Conference Weekly Honor Roll three times this season and was an All-Northeast-10 Conference First Team selection earlier this month.

Vazquez served as the Franklin Pierce ace all season long, to the tune of an 8-1 record and a 1.93 earned-run average, which was good for third in the conference. Currently, he ranks fifth in the nation in strikeouts (112) and 12th in strikeouts per nine innings (10.8). In addition to earned-run average, Vazquez is also among Northeast-10 leaders in four significant pitching categories, as he finished first in innings pitched (93.1) and strike outs, placed third in wins and ranked fifth in opposing batting average (.217). Vazquez threw three shutouts on the season, including a 10-inning, three-hit shutout with a career-high 15 strikeouts against Massachusetts Lowell on May 2 to clinch the Northeast-10 regular season title. He was a five-time Northeast-10 Conference Pitcher of the Week selection during the season and was named Northeast-10 Conference Pitcher of the Year earlier this month. In addition, he has garnered Daktronics All-East Region First Team and All-Northeast-10 Conference First Team accolades this spring.

Cote teamed with Vazquez to give the Ravens a fierce one-two punch at the top of the rotation throughout the season and finished with a 9-2 record, with the nine wins being the most of any pitcher in the Northeast-10. The southpaw currently ranks 21st in the nation in strikeouts (91) and 53rd in strikeouts per nine innings (9.28). Cote finished the season second in the Northeast-10 in innings pitched (88.1), third in opposing batting average (.211) and strikeouts and fourth in earned-run average (1.94). Cote was named Northeast-10 Conference Pitcher of the Week on April 20 and has already collected Daktronics All-East Region First Team and All-Northeast-10 Conference First Team honors this spring.

Nicholas served as Franklin Pierce’s top arm out of the bullpen this season and finished the year second in the Northeast-10 with nine saves. Over 36 innings in 22 appearances out of the bullpen, he put together a 2-2 record with a 1.25 earned-run average. Nicholas allowed just eight runs (five earned) on 24 hits, walked 15 and struck out 30, while holding opponents to a .192 batting average. Earlier this month, he was an All-Northeast-10 Conference First Team selection.

Rivers finished fifth on the team with a .314 batting average (64-for-204) and led the team with 19 doubles. He finished second in the conference in doubles, tied for sixth in hits, eighth in runs scored (40) and total bases (103) and 11th in slugging percentage (.505) and runs batted in (37). He was named to the Northeast-10 Conference Weekly Honor Roll once during the season and earlier in the spring collected All-Northeast-10 Conference Second Team accolades.

The Ravens (37-18) captured their third Northeast-10 Conference regular season title in four years earlier this spring and followed that with their third consecutive Northeast-10 Championship title, which was the program’s fourth in five years. Franklin Pierce earned the second seed in the NCAA Division II Baseball Championship East Regional and hosted an NCAA regional for the fifth consecutive season.