Franklin Pierce Sweeps 
Weekly NE-10 Baseball Awards
Shea named Player of the Week 
for second time this season
Cummings collects first 
Pitcher of the Week honor
Savastano earns Freshman of the Week 
for fifth time

RINDGE, N.H. (April 17, 2006) – Franklin Pierce swept the Northeast-10 Conference’s weekly baseball awards, the Conference announced on Monday.

            Senior centerfield Elliott Shea (Jaffrey, N.H./Conant) was named the NE-10’s Player of the Week for the second time this season, while classmate Tyler Cummings (South Paris, Maine/Oxford Hills) collected Pitcher of the Week honors and shortstop Scott Savastano (Plymouth, Mass./Plymouth North) earned Freshman of the Week accolades for the fifth time this spring. The trio was honored after helping Franklin Pierce to a 5-1 week.

            Shea, who has been named NE-10 Player of the Week three times in his career, led the Ravens offense last week as he hit .444 (12-for-27) with eight runs scored, five doubles, a triple, three stolen bases (on as many attempts) and nine RBI. He also slugged .704 and posted a .484 on-base percentage for the week. Shea started the week by hitting 5-for-6 with a school-record four doubles and five RBI in the Ravens 11-1 win at Merrimack College, also matching the program’s single-game record for hits in a game. He was 1-3 with two runs scored and an RBI in Franklin Pierce’s 13-5 win over #30 UMass Lowell. Shea rounded out the week by batting a combined 4-for-9 with a double, triple, three runs scored, three RBI and two steals in Saturday’s doubleheader sweep of Bentley.            

Shea is second on the team with a .389 batting average (5^th NE-10), 40 runs scored (3^rd), 13 doubles (2^nd), four triples (1^st), five home runs (4^th), 29 RBI (8^th) and a Conference-best 20 stolen bases. He is also slugging .639 (3^rd) to go with a .441 on-base percentage (8^th), has totaled 16 multi-hit games and six multi-RBI outings this season. Shea carries a team-best eight-game hitting streak into Tuesday’s game.

            Cummings posted a 2-0 record on the mound last week for the Ravens with a 0.00 ERA, 12 strikeouts and just one walk in 15.0 innings of work over two starts. He yielded just an unearned run on six hits, holding opposing batters to a .118 average. Cummings allowed just the one unearned run, while scattering four hits with a season-high eight strikeouts in Monday’s win at Merrimack. The win was the 21^st of his career, moving him into sole possession of first place atop the program’s all-time victory list. Cummings surrendered just two hits over seven shutout innings with four strikeouts in win at Bentley in game one of a doubleheader sweep.            

Cummings is 5-1 this season (3^rd NE-10 in wins), with a team-low 1.70 ERA (7^th) and 25 strikeouts with just six walks (6^th fewest in the NE-10) over 42.1 innings pitched. Opposing batters are hitting just .203 against him this season, yielding just two extra base hits (both doubles).

            Savastano hit a team-best .458 (11-for-24) with a home run, four runs scored, four RBI and four stolen bases (on as many attempts) for the Ravens last week. He also slugged .583 and posted a .500 on-base percentage for the week. Savastano was 1-for-4 with a pair of RBI and a stolen base in Franklin Pierce’s 11-1 win at Merrimack. He was a perfect 4-for-4 with a homer, two runs scored, two RBI and a steal in Thursday’s win over #30 UMass Lowell. Savastano rounded out the week by hitting a combined 4-for-8 with a stolen base and run scored in Saturday’s doubleheader sweep of Bentley.

            Savastano, a 33^rd round draft pick of the Chicago White Sox in 2005, leads the Ravens with a .398 batting average (3^rd NE-10), 29 runs scored (9^th), eight doubles, four triples (1^st), two home runs, 24 RBI and 13 stolen bases (5^th). He is slugging .585 (7^th) to go with a .482 on-base percentage (3^rd), while totaling 16 multi-hit games and six multi-RBI outings.

            Franklin Pierce (27-8, 11-4 NE-10), ranked No. 15 in this week’s Collegiate Baseball magazine Division II poll, returns to action on Tuesday when it hosts American International College at 3:30 p.m.