Trio named among best in New England

Full NEIBA All-Star selections (PDF) 

RINDGE, N.H. (May 29, 2014) – Junior catcher Matt Walsh (Plymouth, Mass.), senior center fielder Calvin Graves (Boston, Mass.) and junior right-hander Conor Gleason (North Stonington, Conn.) of the Franklin Pierce University baseball team have all been selected to participate in the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association All-Star Game, as announced this week by the NEIBA. This year's game is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Sunday, June 1 at LeLacheur Park in Lowell, Mass.

The three Ravens will join other All-Star selections from Division II and III programs from across New England to form the College Division Team. Their opponents will be the University Division Team, composed of selections from New England's Division I programs. It is the second NEIBA All-Star selection for Walsh, who was previously honored as a freshman in 2012, while Graves and Gleason each make their first trip to the event.

Walsh, already a consensus All-East Region pick and an All-Northeast-10 First Team selection this spring, returned to an All-Region performance level in 2014 with a slash line which finished at .303/.366/.478 over 201 at-bats while starting all 53 games for the Ravens, including 48 starts behind the plate. He finished the season tied for first in the Northeast-10 in runs batted in (40), tied for second in home runs (7), ranked fifth in runs scored (42), tied for seventh in hits (61), ranked ninth in slugging percentage and tied for ninth in doubles (12). He added one triple, 11 walks and five stolen bases in seven attempts along the way.

For Walsh, it marks his second career consensus All-East Region selection, as he was a consensus First-Team selection as a freshman in 2012. The East Region Gold Glove Team selection is the first of his career.

Graves adds the NEIBA honor to ABCA All-East Region Second Team and All-Northeast-10 First Team honors earned earlier this spring. He started all 53 games for the Ravens, including 52 starts in center field, after starting all 56 contests a year ago. Graves put together a .319/.380/.386 slash line out of the leadoff hole for Franklin Pierce and, through May 25, ranked 18th in the country in stolen bases (31) and 27th in stolen bases per game (0.58). Among Northeast-10 leaders, he finished the season third in stolen bases (32-for-40, 80%), fourth in hits (67), tied for eighth in runs scored (38), 15th in batting average and 27th in on-base percentage. Graves hit his first collegiate home run, in the 178th game of his career, on April 12 against Merrimack.

Gleason, who started the season in the bullpen, pitched well enough out of the rotation from the start of April through the end of the campaign to earn All-East Region Second Team selections from both the ABCA and Daktronics, as well as All-Northeast-10 First Team honors. Even with fewer innings as a result of the bullpen stint, Gleason was among national leaders in several categories through May 25, as he led the country in hits allowed per nine innings (3.86), ranked second in strikeouts per nine innings (13.57) and ranked 15th in strikeouts (95). Despite being tied for 15th in the Northeast-10 in innings pitched (63.0), he led the league in strikeouts per nine innings and finished second in strikeouts (95). He allowed 21 runs (19 earned) on 27 hits and 44 walks to finish with a 2.71 ERA and a 1.127 WHIP.

The Ravens finished the 2014 campaign at 35-18 after being bounced on the second day of the NCAA East Regional. Franklin Pierce made its 10th consecutive NCAA Championship appearance, an active streak matched by only two other Division II schools (Grand Valley State, Tampa) and 14 other programs across all divisions. The team reached 35 wins for the ninth straight season and captured a share of its third straight Northeast-10 Northeast Division title along the way.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics).