Senior becomes 24th Raven to earn All-America accolades

Full NCBWA All-America selections (PDF)

RINDGE, N.H. (June 1, 2015) – Senior right-hander Brendan O'Rourke (Shrewsbury, Mass.) of the Franklin Pierce University baseball team has been selected to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association All-America Second Team, as announced earlier this spring by the NCBWA. In addition, sophomore third baseman Jay Jabs (Schwenksville, Pa.) has earned an All-America Honorable Mention nod from the NCBWA.

O'Rourke is the 24th player in program history to earn All-America accolades. He was one of three All-America selections from the East Region, as both Sam Goines and Tyler Fries from Wilmington (Del.) landed on the Third Team.

Over 13 starts and one relief appearance, O'Rourke -- who was the consensus East Region Pitcher of the Year and a consensus All-East Region First Team selection, having earned the accolades from the NCBWA, the ABCA and Daktronics -- allowed just 10 runs (seven earned) on 42 hits over 75 innings, to post a miniscule, 0.84 earned run average. Of those 42 hits, just 15 went for extra bases, including just one home run. In the Northeast-10, O'Rourke led the league in wins (11-0) and was tied for the league lead in strikeouts (93). He also ranked second in strikeouts per nine innings (11.16) and third in ERA and innings pitched. Nationally, he finished fifth in the country in ERA, tied for seventh in wins, eighth in hits allowed per nine innings (5.04), tied for 21st in strikeouts, 22nd in WHIP (0.96) and 25th in strikeouts per nine innings.

While starting all 52 games this year for the Ravens, primarily at third base and in the second spot in the order, Jabs -- who was the consensus East Region Player of the Year and a consensus All-East Region First Team selection as well -- owns a .328/.414/.656 slash line over 195 at-bats (64-for-195). He hit 13 home runs, which is tied for the fifth-highest single-season total in program history. In the Northeast-10, Jabs led the league in slugging percentage, triples (6), home runs, total bases (128, which was 30 more than his closest competition) and extra-base hits (32). He also ranked third in runs scored (53) and runs batted in (50), tied for third in sacrifice flies (5), tied for fourth in hits, seventh in stolen bases (23-for-26), tied for seventh in doubles (13), tied for eighth in walks (23), tied for 10th in hit by pitch (9), 14th in on-base percentage and 25th in batting average. Nationally, he finished tied for 11th in the country in triples, was tied for 29th in stolen bases and was tied for 44th in home runs.

The Ravens (48-4) laid claim to their fifth Northeast-10 title this spring and played host to the NCAA Championship East Regional for the seventh time. Franklin Pierce captured its fourth 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). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce baseball apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).