Owls ranked 25th in American Baseball Coaches Poll

KEENE, N.H. 4/24/12 – For the first time this season, Keene State College is ranked in the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Division III Poll.  The Owls (25-9) received 46 points, putting them 25th in the national poll.

“As always it’s nice to get the national recognition, but the polls this time of season don’t’ mean as much as they do at the end of the year,” said KSC Coach Ken Howe.  “The real regional rankings come out sometime this week and it will be interesting to see where we are there.”

Keene State, which was ranked third in the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association poll announced on Monday, is one of five New England teams on the ABCA poll.  Wheaton (Mass.) is second with 217 points, St. Joseph’s (Me.) is 16th  with 99 points, LEC rival Eastern Conn. with 97 points is 18th, and Trinity (Conn.) is 22nd with 69 points.

The Owls have a 1-3 record against the New England teams ahead of them in the poll.  They lost to Wheaton (3-2) and St. Joseph’s College (8-2) during their spring week trip to Florida and split a doubleheader against Eastern Conn., (4-13, 8-7) earlier in the season.  Keene State will get another crack at Wheaton on Sunday when they host the Lyons in a key non-conference game. 

A couple of Keene State players appear in the most recent NCAA Division III Statistics.  In games played through April 15, junior Greg Bates (Salem, N.H.) is ranked fifth in runs (46) and second in runs per game (1.59).  Senior Kyle Morrill (Auburn, N.H.) has the 10th best batting average (.467). He is also tied for first with seven sacrifice flies.  Senior Erik Bergstrom (Enfield, Conn.) is 17th in RBIs (39) and third in RBIs per game with a 1.63 average. 

Currently sitting on top of the Little East Standings, Keene State has six games remaining in its regular season schedule.  After today’s game at Curry College, the Owls return home for a LEC doubleheader against Southern Maine on Saturday, a single game vs. Wheaton on Sunday, and a Friday May 4 doubleheader against UMass-Dartmouth.