Franklin Pierce Sweeps
NE-10 Weekly Awards
Ravens reap rewards for capturing
second-straight NE-10 Tournament title 

RINDGE, N.H. (May 13, 2008) – The Franklin Pierce University baseball team swept the Northeast-10 Conference weekly awards after capturing its second-straight NE-10 Tournament title over the weekend, it was announced on Monday.

            Sophomore rightfielder Kevin Rivers (Bristol, Conn./Bristol Eastern) was selected as the NE-10’s Player of the Week, while senior reliever Tyler Bishop (Milford, N.H./Milford) was named Pitcher of the Week and designated hitter Derek Ingui (Sterling, Mass./Wachusett Regional) earned Freshman of the Week honors.           

Rivers earns Player of the Week honors for the first time in his career after leading Franklin Pierce to the NE-10 Championship and automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Northeast Regional. He batted .467 (7-for-15) with five runs scored, a double, four home runs and ten RBI in the Ravens four wins en route to the championship. Rivers was 2-for-3 with a home run and four RBI in Wednesday’s 10-2 opening round win over sixth-seeded Bentley College. He hit 2-for-3 with a pair of solo homers in Friday’s 5-2 win over second-seeded Southern Connecticut State and batted 3-for-5 with a double, home run, two runs scored and four RBI in Saturday’s 10-9 win over top-seeded Bryant University.

            Rivers has started all 50 games played so far for Franklin Pierce this season and is batting .309 (59-for-191) with 32 runs scored, 14 doubles (5^th NE-10), a team-best four triples (8^th), five home runs (6^th) and team-high 45 RBI (2^nd). He is also slugging .503 (9^th) to go with a .381 on-base percentage and team-high 11 multi-RBI games. Rivers was also selected to the All-Northeast-10 Conference third team on Sunday.           

Bishop, named NE-10 Pitcher of the Week for the first time in his career, earned MVP honors at the NE-10 Tournament after recording saves in two of Franklin Pierce’s four wins en route to the title, striking out four in a combined 3.2 innings of work over the two appearances. He posted a two-inning save to preserve Friday’s 5-2 victory over second-seeded Southern Connecticut, with two strikeouts. Bishop also struck out two in 1.2 innings to seal Saturday’s 10-9 win over top-seeded Bryant.

            Bishop, the program’s career saves leader with 20, has made a team-high 19 appearances (8^th NE-10) this season for Franklin Pierce. He has posted a 6-2 record (8^th, wins) and eight saves (2^nd) to go with a 1.34 earned run average, 47 strikeouts and just 13 walks over 33.2 innings pitched, holding opposing batters to a .165 average. Bishop was named to the All-Northeast-10 Conference first team on Sunday as well.           

Ingui, named NE-10 Player of the Week once this season, earns Freshman of the Week honors for the third time. He helped Franklin Pierce capture its second-straight NE-10 Tournament championship, hitting .438 (7-for-16) with four runs scored, a home run and two RBI over its four wins en route to the title. Ingui slugged .625 and was successful on both stolen base attempts over the four games as well.

            Ingui hit 2-for-5 with a stolen base and run scored in the Ravens 10-2 first round win over Bentley on Wednesday. He was 2-for-4 with two runs scored in Saturday’s 10-9 win over Bryant and finished 3-for-5 with a stolen base, home run and two RBI in Sunday’s 6-4 win over Southern Connecticut State in the championship round.

            Ingui, a second team All-Northeast-10 Conference pick as a freshman, has started 48 of 49 games played in his first collegiate season at Franklin Pierce. He is hitting .328 (60-for-183) with 38 runs scored, ten doubles, two triples, four home runs (9^th NE-10) and 37 RBI (9^th). Ingui has also posted a .470 slugging and .406 on-base percentage, while stealing eight bases.  

            Franklin Pierce (39-12, 20-10 NE-10), ranked 14^th in the pingbaseball.com Division II poll and 21^st in the Collegiate Baseball magazine rankings, captured its second-straight Northeast-10 Conference Tournament over the weekend and has earned the top seed and right to host the 2008 NCAA Division II Northeast Regional this weekend. The Ravens, who have won two-straight Northeast Regional titles, will open the regional against East Coast Conference Tournament champions LIU-C.W. Post (29-25, 16-11 ECC) on Thursday at 11 a.m.