Second-straight year Thompson named academic all-American

RINDGE, N.H. (May 30, 2013) -- Franklin Pierce University baseball standout Ryan Thompson (Calgary, Alberta) on Thursday was named to the 2013 CoSIDA Academic All-America Third-Team for his impressive performances on the field and in the classroom this season. It marks the second-consecutive year Thompson, a senior right-handed pitcher, was named a third-team academic all-American by the organization.

To be eligible for selection, a student-athlete must sport at least a 3.30 cumulative grade point average, be at least a sophomore in academic standing and be a starter or significant contributor athletically. Thompson was also eligible for the national team after earning First-Team Academic All-District I honors from CoSIDA earlier this month.

It's the third-straight season the Ravens baseball program has had a student-athlete named to the national team as former standout Derek Ingui earned the honor in 2011, while Thompson took home the third-team honors listed above last season.

Thompson recently graduated from Franklin Pierce with a 3.80 GPA in his major of mass communication. Earlier in May, he was named Franklin Pierce's Richard Burns Male Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

On the field in 2013, Thompson served as a captain for the Ravens and helped lead the team to the Northeast-10 Conference Northeast Division Championship, an NCAA East Regional Championship and a trip to the Division II College World Series in Cary, N.C. Thompson appeared in 10 games on the mound this season with nine starts and posted a 4-1 record with 2.23 earned run average. He pitched 48.1 innings, while striking out 61 batters and walking only 13 for a 11.36 strikeouts per game average.

For more information on Franklin Pierce baseball, please visit the team's page at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.) To follow the program even further, please visit Franklin Pierce Athletics on YouTube (www.youtube.com/FranklinPierceSports), Twitter (www.twitter.com/FPUathletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce baseball apparel can do so on the athletic department's online store at athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store(.)