Pitcher of the Year joined on the All-Conference first team by Blancarte

RINDGE, N.H. (May 12, 2003) - Franklin Pierce junior right-hander Matt Weagle (Charlton, Mass./Shephard Hill) was named the Northeast-10 Conference Pitcher of the Year and highlighted a program record seven All-Northeast-10 Conference selections. The awards were announced at the NE-10 Championship after being selected by the Conference coaches.

Weagle, whom Baseball America tabbed as the No. 4-ranked Pro Prospect in Division II, is 7-1 this season with a Conference-low 1.29 ERA, 82 strikeouts (2nd NE-10) and just nine walks in 76.2 innings (1st) with opposing batters hitting a Conference-low .178 against him. He opened the NE-10 Tournament for the Ravens with 11 one-hit shutout innings against Stonehill College on Friday afternoon, fanning a career-best 16 batters with just one walk as the Ravens went on to post a 1-0 victory in 12 innings. He was perfect through the first 5.1 innings and carried a no-hitter into the ninth before surrendering a leadoff single.

A first team All-Conference and All-Northeast Region selection as a freshman, Weagle set a new program record with his 236th strikeout on Friday night, surpassing Chris Shank and Justin Blood's former record of 235 strikeouts. Weagle has won 17 career games (3rd all-time), made 34 appearances (5th), pitched 231.1 innings (3rd), posted 16 complete games (2nd) and his 3.46 career ERA is currently 0.12 better than the program record.

Junior designated hitter Dante Blancarte (Amesbury, Mass./Amesbury) joins Weagle on the first team after earning third team All-Conference honors his two previous seasons with the Ravens. Blancarte leads the Ravens with a .346 batting average (10th NE-10), 11 doubles, a triple, three home runs and Conference-best 40 RBI.

Blancarte ranks among career leaders at the program with 169 hits (5th), 28 doubles (7th), 25 home runs (3rd) and 134 RBI (2nd - five shy of the program record). He has also belted a program record five career grand slams.

Senior outfielders Dan Close (Leominster, Mass./Leominster) and Paul McAuliffe (Foxboro, Mass./Foxboro) along with sophomore catcher Eric Cavers (Otisfield, Maine/Oxford Hills) all earned spots on the All-Northeast-10 second team.

Close is hitting .331 with 31 runs scored, nine doubles, two triples, three homers and 32 RBI (7th NE-10). Over the last two weeks, Close has been swinging an especially hot bat, hitting .463 (25-54) with 12 runs scored, four doubles, two triples, two homers and 16 RBI over the last 13 games. During that time he is slugging .722 and is riding a team season-high matching 14-game hitting streak.

Close earns second team All-Conference honors for the second-straight year. Earlier this year he broke the career stolen base record at the College with 34 thefts in his four-year career. Close also ranks among career leaders in games played (148 - 4th), at bats (530 - 4th), hits (155 - 6th), runs scored (126 - 4th), doubles (29 - 6th), triples (7 - 3rd), home runs (26 - 2nd) and RBI (109 - 3rd).

McAuliffe is hitting .304 this spring with 33 runs scored (9th NE-10), eight doubles, three triples (7th), three home runs and 13 RBI. It marks McAuliffe's second All-Conference selection after earning first team All-NE-10 and All-Northeast Region honors as a sophomore. He ranks among career leaders at the College in games played (150 - 3rd), at bats (536 - 3rd), hits (187 - 2nd), batting average (.349 - 6th), runs scored (127 - 3rd), doubles (39 - 1st), triples (7 - 3rd), home runs (13 - 7th), RBI (97 - 7th) and stolen bases (30 - 5th).

Cavers earns his first All-Conference honor of his career and is batting .292 with 36 runs scored (4th NE-10), 11 doubles (5th), two triples, a home run and 22 RBI to go with a program-record 18 stolen bases (5th) this spring. He hit an impressive .312 with the Conference-mandated wood bats, totaling 31 runs scored, ten doubles and 18 RBI. Cavers established a team season-best 14-game hitting streak earlier in the season and hit safely in 22-of-23 games during one stretch of the season.

Cavers is right behind Close for the program's career stolen base mark with 33 career steals in just two seasons.

Senior right-hander Jon White (Medford, Mass./Arlington Catholic) and freshman shortstop Shawn Hayes (Charlton, Mass./Holy Name) each earned spots on the All-Conference third team.

White is 5-4 this spring with a 2.92 ERA, 57 strikeouts (8th NE-10) and just ten walks in 71 innings (4th) of work over 11 appearances (ten starts) for the Ravens. He also leads the Conference with seven pickoffs.

White, who was named the Walter Peterson Male Student Athlete of the Year at the College, earns All-Conference honors for the second straight year after earning a spot on the first team as well as All-Northeast honors in 2002. Last spring he became the first pitcher in program history to win ten games and is just one win shy of the program's career win mark of 20 set by Shank (2000-2002). White has made a program record 46 appearances and also ranks among career leaders in innings (243.2 - T1st), complete games (11 - 5th), strikeouts (193 - 4th) and ERA (4.54 - 3rd).

Hayes earns his first career All-Conference selection after stepping in for four-year starter Scott Loiseau as the Ravens everyday shortstop. Hayes is hitting .280 this spring with 23 runs scored, three doubles, 11 RBI and 13 stolen bases (8th NE-10). His stolen base total is just two shy of Cavers program record for freshmen set last season and sixth on the program's single-season list.

The seven All-Northeast-10 selections surpass the previous record of six Ravens set in 2001 and matched during the 2002 season. Weagle's Pitcher of the Year award is the third of its kind in program history following Blood in 2000 (NECC) and Shank last spring.

Franklin Pierce (27-15) received the first NCAA Division II Tournament bid in program history today. The third-seeded Ravens will face No. 2-seed Dowling College in game one of the Northeast Regional on Thursday afternoon at 3 p.m. Top-seeded UMass Lowell hosts the regional with all games played at LeLachuer Park in Lowell, Mass.