April 27, 2005

KINGSTON, R.I. - The University of Rhode Island baseball has worked its way into both the New England and Northeast Region coaches' polls after winning 12 of its last 13 games.

Rhode Island is ranked No. 7 in the latest CollegeBaseballInsider.com Northeast Coaches Poll, which includes teams as far south as North Carolina. Rhody is also ranked No. 5 in the latest New England Coaches Poll.

The Rams, who were earning votes in two national Top 25 polls in the preseason, have rebounded from a slow start and sit at 20-15 overall and 12-3 in the Atlantic 10. The 2004 A10 regular-season champions are in first place in the East Division and have the best league mark in the conference. Rhode Island has won 12-straight Atlantic 10 series dating back to last season.

This is the highest the Rams have been ranked in the Northeast Poll. Rhody was ranked as high as 10th in the poll last spring.

Senior outfielder Matt Sullivan (Nashua, N.H.) was named the Atlantic 10 Baseball Player of the Week and junior pitcher Zack Zuercher (Warwick, R.I.) earned conference Pitcher of the Week honors after leading the Rams to a perfect 5-0 record last week, including a three-game sweep of defending Atlantic 10 Champion St. Bonaventure.

Rhode Island leads the Atlantic 10 in team batting average (.325), team fielding (.959 fielding pct.) and is third in the league in team earned run average (4.34).

The Rams return to action on Thursday when they host Harvard (20-11), which is ranked No. 13 in the Northeast and No. 4 in New England. The game is at 3:30 p.m. at Bill Beck Field.

CollegeBaseballInsider.com Northeast Coaches' Poll
(Record in parentheses, followed by total points and first place votes)
1. North Carolina-Wilmington (27-14) 119 (7)
2. St. John's (26-12) 111
3. Boston College (26-14) 102 (1)
4. Notre Dame (24-15-1) 90
5. Virginia Commonwealth (22-11) 86
6. Army (26-10) 68
7. Rhode Island (20-15) 58
8. George Mason (23-13) 56
9. Villanova (23-12-2) 42
10. Fordham (26-15) 38
11. Rutgers (21-16) 36
12. Dayton (22-15) 34
13. Harvard (20-11) 32
14. George Washington (25-13) 29
15. Maine (22-11) 24
Receiving Votes: Connecticut (11), Delaware (8), Vermont (6), Pittsburgh (3), Lehigh (2), Marist (2), Monmouth (2), Brown (1).

New England Division I College Baseball Coaches Poll
(First Place Votes in parentheses, followed by record and total points)
1. Boston College (6) 26-13 34
2. Maine (1) 22-11 25
3. Connecticut 24-17 16
4. Harvard 20-11 13
5. Rhode Island 20-15 7