Jan. 2, 2005

KINGSTON, R.I. - University of Rhode Island junior left-handed pitcher Zach Zuercher (Warwick, R.I./Pilgrim HS) added to his list of preseason accolades, being named a second-team Louisville Slugger preseason All-American, selected by Collegiate Baseball newspaper.

Zuercher, who was named third-team All-American last spring by Collegiate Baseball, had already been one of only 58 players in the nation named to the Wallace Watch List for the National College Baseball Player of the Year, and earned preseason third-team All-American honors by the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association.

Zuercher, the 2004 Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Year, was a finalist for the Roger Clemens Award for National Collegiate Pitcher of the Year last spring after posting an 8-3 record, tying the school's single-season wins mark, and notching a 2.82 ERA. In his first season in Kingston after transferring from the University of North Carolina, he struck out 12.0 batters per nine innings, which ranked him fifth in the nation, totaling a school-record 123 K's in 92.2 innings pitched. Zuercher posted double digits in strikeouts in 10 of his 12 starts, and threw a school-record nine complete games with a school-record four shutouts.

Opponents hit a miniscule .176 against Zuercher, who threw a nine-inning no-hitter against St. Bonaventure on April 24, earning him National Player of the Week honors from Collegiate Baseball Insider and Baseball America, and National Pitcher of the Week by the NCBWA. He also was named first-team All-Atlantic 10, first-team All-New England and second-team All-Northeast.

The Rams look to defend their 2004 Atlantic 10 regular season championship this season, returning almost the entire pitching staff and line-up, with the exception of All-American Dan Batz, who was drafted in the sixth round of the Major League Baseball Draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Head coach Frank Leoni, the back-to-back Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year, led the Rams to a school-record 35 wins and 20 conference victories last spring. Rhody finished the season with a 35-20-1 overall record and a 20-4 conference mark, becoming just the second Atlantic 10 team to ever win 20 conference games in a season. The Rams won the first Atlantic 10 regular season title in school history and lost in the finals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament.