Baseball Puts Two On Northeast-10 Conference Weekly Honor Roll

Cote, Dowd honored by conference; Ravens No. 21 in Ping!Baseball Rankings

Northeast-10 Conference Weekly Release
NCBWA Division II National/Regional Polls
Ping!Baseball Division II Top 30 Rankings

RINDGE, N.H. (April 28, 2009) – Senior left-hander Tom Cote (Swanzey, N.H./Univ. of Massachusetts) and freshman catcher Mike Dowd (East Bridgewater, Mass./Cardinal Spellman) of the Franklin Pierce University baseball team have both been named to the Northeast-10 Conference Weekly Honor Roll for the week ending on April 27. Also, Franklin Pierce (28-15) is 21st in the Ping!Baseball Division II Top 30 Rankings, received votes in this week’s National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Division II Poll, is second in the NCBWA East Region Poll and is first in the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association’s Division II Coaches Poll.

In his only appearance last week, Cote threw eight scoreless innings on Friday afternoon to pick up the win against Pace. He allowed four hits in 29 at-bats against (.138 opponents’ batting average), did not issue a walk and struck out 10. It was the third consecutive appearance of eight scoreless innings for Cote, who has amassed a scoreless streak of 30.1 innings. The southpaw has tallied double-digit strikeouts in each of his last three starts as well.

Dowd hit .450 (9-for-20) with three doubles and a home run over six games in a 5-1 week for the Ravens. On the week, he drove in eight runs, scored seven times, drew a pair of walks and was hit by three pitches. Dowd tallied a .750 slugging percentage and a .560 on-base percentage over the six games.

In the eighth NCBWA Division II Poll of the season, the Ravens appear in the “others receiving votes” section of the poll for the second straight week. Franklin Pierce tallied 20 points, down from 29 a week ago and good for 27th nationally for the second week in a row. Barry (40-7) went 3-1 last week, including two wins in a three-game series against Tampa, to collect six of 12 first-place votes and jump into the No. 1 spot after being tied for fifth last week. Previous No. 1, Southern Arkansas (44-9), had its winning streak snapped at 23 games last week, collected two first-place votes and fell to third. The remaining first-place votes were split, with two apiece going to No. 2 West Chester (38-10) and No. 6 Mesa State (37-9).

In the 12th Ping!Baseball Division II Top 30 Rankings of the season, Franklin Pierce holds steady and occupies the 21st position for the second week in a row. Barry took over the top spot in the Top 30 Rankings as well, while Southern Arkansas fell to third after 10 weeks in the top spot.

The eighth NCBWA East Region Poll of the year sees the Ravens in the second position for the second week in a row. Franklin Pierce tallied 56 points and two of six first-place votes to place behind Dominican, which tallied 58 points and the remaining four first-place votes to remain in first for the second straight week. Four other Northeast-10 schools place in the Poll behind Franklin Pierce. Massachusetts Lowell (23-15) dropped two spots to fifth, Southern Connecticut State (22-17) jumped back into the top 10 in sixth, Assumption (24-16-1) fell two positions to eighth and Bentley (23-21) remained in ninth for the third consecutive week.

In the fifth NEIBA Division II Coaches Poll of the season, Franklin Pierce is the unanimous favorite among Division II schools in New England. The Ravens collected 20 points and all four first-place votes to place six points ahead of both Assumption and Southern Connecticut State, which tied for second. Rounding out the five-team poll are Massachusetts Lowell in fourth and Bentley in fifth.

The Ravens return to the field this afternoon, when they travel to Stonehill for a Northeast-10 Conference contest. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at Lou Gorman Field in Easton, Mass. Franklin Pierce next plays at home on Thursday, April 30 against Stonehill at 7 p.m., a game which will be broadcast on WEEI 93.5 FM Keene.