Baseball Lands Six On NCBWA All-East Region Teams
Cote, Dowd, Ingui, Nicholas, Vazquez on First Team; Lerud on Second Team
Rob Nicholas is among five Ravens named to the NCBWA All-East
Region First Team.
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RINDGE, N.H. (May 29, 2009) – Six
members of the Franklin Pierce University baseball team have been
named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association
All-East Region teams, as announced Friday by the NCBWA.
Senior left-hander Tom Cote
(Swanzey, N.H./Univ. of Massachusetts), freshman catcher
Mike Dowd (East Bridgewater,
Mass./Cardinal Spellman), sophomore designated hitter Derek Ingui (Sterling, Mass./Wachusett
Regional), sophomore right-hander Rob Nicholas (Northboro, Mass./Algonquin
Regional) and junior right-hander Kyle Vazquez (Berlin, Conn./Berlin)
have each been named to the NCBWA All-East Region First Team. In
addition, senior left fielder Ted
Lerud (Hampden, Mass./Minnechaug Regional) was selected to
the NCBWA All-East Region Second Team.
Cote and Vazquez teamed up to give the Ravens a fierce one-two
punch at the top of the rotation throughout the season. Cote
finished with a 9-2 record and the nine wins were 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). It is the
third All-East Region selection of the season for Cote, who has
already collected First Team honors from Daktronics and Second Team
honors from the American Baseball Coaches Association. In addition,
the left-hander garnered Daktronics All-America Second Team and
All-Northeast-10 Conference First Team honors earlier this
spring.
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).
Derek Ingui has ben named to the NCBWA All-East Region First
Team.
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It has been a busy award season for
Dowd, who had already received All-East Region First Team accolades
from both Daktronics and the ABCA, in addition to an Eastern
College Athletic Conference Division II Baseball All-Star First
Team selection. Furthermore, he was named ABCA East Region Rookie
of the Year, ECAC Rookie of the Year and Northeast-10 Conference
Co-Freshman of the Year. Nationally, Dowd earned an All-America
Honorable Mention from Daktronics after also collecting
All-Northeast-10 Conference First Team and Northeast-10 Conference
All-Rookie Team accolades for his standout season.
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). Earlier this spring, Ingui was selected
ABCA All-East Region First Team, Daktronics All-East Region Second
Team, ECAC Division II Baseball All-Star First Team,
All-Northeast-10 Conference First Team and CoSIDA/ESPN: The
Magazine Academic All-District I Second Team.
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 selected both ABCA
All-East Region Second Team and All-Northeast-10 Conference First
Team.
Ted Lerud was selected NCBWA All-East Region Second Team.
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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.
Vazquez was named Northeast-10 Conference Pitcher of the Year
earlier this month and received All-America honors from both
Daktronics (Second Team) and Rawlings/ABCA (Third Team). He has
also garnered Daktronics All-East Region First Team, ABCA All-East
Region First Team, ECAC Division II Baseball All-Star First Team
and All-Northeast-10 Conference First Team accolades this
spring.
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 collected ABCA All-East Region First Team
and All-Northeast-10 Conference First Team selections earlier this
month.
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.