May 24, 2005

DAYTON, Ohio - Seniors Matt Sullivan (Nashua, N.H.) and Mike Rainville (Pawtucket, R.I.), and sophomore Ryan Cunningham (Centreville, Va.) were named to the Atlantic 10 All-Conference First-Team at the A10 Championship banquet held Tuesday night in Dayton.

The 2005 Atlantic 10 regular-season champion's three First-Team All-Coference selections tied with George Washington for the most first-team honorees in the league. Rhody put four players on Second-Team All-Conference, giving the Rams a conference-leading seven All-Atlantic 10 selections.

Senior Mick Lefort (Lincoln, R.I.),juniors Josh Nestor (Nashua, N.H.) and Wayne Russo (Warwick, R.I.) and sophomore Scott Brown (Portland, Maine) each earned All-Conference Second-Team honors.

Russo and Lefort were also named to the Atlantic 10 Baseball Academic All-Conference Team. This was Russo's third selection to the Academic All-Conference Team, while Lefort earned his first Academic All-Conference selection.

Sullivan, the team's right fielder, is second on the Rams in batting average (.364) and doubles (13). He leads the Rams in slugging percentage (.636), total bases (119) and home runs (12) and is third on the team with 37 RBIs. Sullivan's 12 home runs ties the school's single-season record and he is now second on the school's all-time list with 121 RBIs.

Cunningham, the Rams' designated hitter, leads the Rams with a .367 batting average. He is second on the team with 41 RBIs and seven home runs. Cunningham has a share of the school record for longest hitting streak after hitting safely in 18 games.

Rainville, who started 49 of the Rams' 50 games at third base this season, batted .309 and was fourth on the team with 35 RBIs. He played a solid third base all season and is fifth all-time in career doubles (32), fourth in at-bats (591). fourth in games played (187) and fifth in triples (6).

Lefort, the team's closer, earned Atlantic 10 Second-Team All-Conference after finishing the season a perfect seven of seven in save situations to bring his Rhode Island career record to 15. The secondary education major held opponents to a .216 batting average and posted a 1.35 ERA, allowing 16 hits and three runs in 20 innings pitched, while striking out 20.

Brown, the Rams' first baseman, is third on the team with a .353 batting average and leads Rhody with 42 RBIs. He hit three home runs on the season and had a .996 field percentage. Brown tied with Cunningham for the school record 18-game hitting streak.

Nestor, who was the starting catcher in 23 of the Rams' 24 conference games, batted .292 with eight doubles, three homers and 28 RBIs. He was was fourth on the team with a .424 on-base percentage and tied for the team lead in walks with 29.

Russo, the Rams' second baseman, batted .329 with 11 doubles and 32 RBIs. He led the team with a .463 on-base percentage and tied for the team lead with 29 walks. The business management major led the Rams with 115 assists this season.

Rhode Island is the top seed in the 2005 Atlantic 10 Tournament and, after a bye in the first round, will play the winner of No. 4 seed Dayton and No. 5 seed Duquesne on Thursday at noon at Dayton's Fifth Third Field.

Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader