Kyle Vazquez Named Northeast-10 Conference Pitcher Of The Week

Cote, Dowd land on Weekly Honor Roll; Ravens No. 17 in Ping!Baseball Rankings

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

RINDGE, N.H. (May 6, 2009) – Junior right-hander Kyle Vazquez (Berlin, Conn./Berlin) of the Franklin Pierce University baseball team has been named Northeast-10 Conference Pitcher of the Week for the week ending on May 3. In addition, senior left-hander Tom Cote (Swanzey, N.H./Univ. of Massachusetts) and freshman catcher Mike Dowd (East Bridgewater, Mass./Cardinal Spellman) have been named to the Northeast-10 Weekly Honor Roll. Also, Franklin Pierce (33-15) is 17th in the Ping!Baseball Division II Top 30 Rankings, received votes in this week’s Collegiate Baseball Poll, 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, Vazquez delivered a 10-inning, three-hit shutout and recorded 15 strikeouts in a 1-0 win over Massachusetts Lowell in the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday. The win clinched the Northeast-10 Conference regular season title for Franklin Pierce. This is the fifth Northeast-10 Pitcher of the Week award for Vazquez this season.

Cote took the mound twice last week and posted a 2-0 record to go with a 1.29 earned-run average. Over 14 innings on the mound, he allowed five runs (two earned) on 14 hits, walked three and struck out nine.

Dowd hit .450 (9-for-20) over five games in a 5-0 week for the Ravens. Along the way, he hit one double, drove in four runs, scored three times, drew a walk and was hit by two pitches. In the five games, Dowd posted a .500 slugging percentage and a .522 on-base percentage.

The 13th Collegiate Baseball Poll of the season sees Franklin Pierce receive votes for the first time since March 16. The Ravens collected 16 points in the poll, good for 32nd in the nation and the most of any unranked team. At the top of the poll, Southern Arkansas (44-9) reclaimed the No. 1 spot after a week tied for second. Fellow east Region member Dominican (35-10) jumped into the poll this week at No. 26.

In the ninth NCBWA Division II Poll of the season, the Ravens appear in the “others receiving votes” section of the poll for the third straight week. Franklin Pierce tallied 20 points for the second consecutive week, which is good for 28th nationally. Southern Arkansas collected eight of 13 first-place votes and took over the top spot in the NCBWA Poll as well, after spending last week in the third slot. Previous No. 1, Barry (44-9), tallied one first-place vote and fell to No. 3. The remaining four first-place votes went to No. 2 West Chester (39-10). Dominican slid up one spot in the poll to No. 17.

In the 13th Ping!Baseball Division II Top 30 Rankings of the season, Franklin Pierce moves up four spots to the 17th position. At the top of the rankings, Delta State (36-14) takes over the top spot by swapping places with Barry, which now sits second. Dominican moved up four spots to No. 26 in this week’s Ping!Baseball Top 30.

The ninth NCBWA East Region Poll of the year sees the Ravens in the second position for the third 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 third straight week. Four other Northeast-10 schools place in the Poll behind Franklin Pierce. Assumption (30-17-1) moved up three spots to fifth, Southern Connecticut State (25-19) placed seventh for the second week in a row, Bentley (28-21) jumped up one spot to eighth and Massachusetts Lowell (24-19) plummeted four spots to ninth.

In the sixth NEIBA Division II Coaches Poll of the season, Franklin Pierce is the unanimous favorite among Division II schools in New England for the second week in a row. The Ravens collected 20 points and all four first-place votes to place four points ahead of Assumption, which placed second. Rounding out the five-team poll are Southern Connecticut State in third, Bentley in fourth and New Haven (20-19) in fifth.

The Ravens return to the field this weekend, when they host the double-elimination portion of the Northeast-10 Conference Championships, May 8-10, at Dr. Arthur and Martha Pappas Field. Franklin Pierce will play its first game in the tournament on Friday, May 8 against either Bentley or New Haven at 4 p.m.