Trinity Baseball Finishes Ranked No. 6, Bayer Is National ERA Champ

Hartford, Conn., August 31, 2009 - The 2008 NCAA Champion Trinity baseball squad, under NESCAC and ECAC Division III New England Coach of the Year Bill Decker (19th Season), waged a valiant defense of its national title, posting its third consecutive 30-win season at 33-7 and advancing to the program's fourth NCAA Division III World Series.  The Bantams breezed through the NESCAC East Division with a 12-0 mark for the second year in a row, won a third NESCAC Championship crown, and captured a fourth NCAA Division III Regional Championship crown before losing to Kean, 8-5, and Carthage, 10-1, in the World Series.  Trinity finished ranked No. 6 in the Final NCBWA/D3Baseball.com National Poll.

Offensively, junior co-captain C Sean Killeen (Greenfield, Mass.) batted a team-high .448 (64-for-143, 3rd in NESCAC in batting average, new College record for hits and at-bats) with team-highs of 57 runs (tied his own College record), 18 doubles (tied College record), three triples, 11 homers, 35 walks (new College record), 121 total bases, an .846 slugging percentage, a .565 on-base percentage to go with 53 RBI, while throwing out 10 opposing basestealers.  Junior 1B Kent Graham (Longmeadow, Mass.) batted .409 (61-for-149, 8th in NESCAC in batting average, 2nd on team in hits) with a team-high of 54 RBI, 44 runs, 14 doubles, 10 home runs, and six stolen bases, while junior OF Matthew Sullivan (North Reading, Mass.) hit .372 (45-for-121) with 39 runs, four home runs, 25 walks, seven steals, and 15 RBI.  Graham, Killeen and Sullivan were each selected as the NESCAC Player of the Week once this spring.  In his career, Killeen set new College records for games played (159), at-bats (561), runs (181), hits (220), doubles (51, tied record), triples (11), RBI (158), total bases (413), walks (98), and hit batsmen (31) and added 28 home runs, a .392 batting average, and 11 stolen bases in 14 attempts. 

Senior co-captain 2B Ryan Piacentini (Portland, Maine) batted .362 (51-for-141) with 41 runs, eight doubles, seven homers, 27 walks, and 49 RBI, while junior OF James Wood (Windham, N.H.) batted .361 (52-for-144) with 37 runs, 13 doubles, four home runs, 24 walks, and 38 RBI, and junior OF Jack Abbott (Longmeadow, Mass.) hit .352 (57-for-162) with 44 runs, six doubles, 23 walks, 27 RBI, and a team-high 12 stolen bases in 16 tries.  In his career, Piacentini played in 140 games and totaled 160 hits in 484 at-bats for a .331 batting average with 127 runs, 32 doubles, 14 home runs, 108 RBI, and 13 stolen bases in 18 attempts. 

Sophomore SS Robert Martin (Lowell, Mass.) finished with 35 hits in 111 at-bats (.315), 22 runs, three doubles, one homer, nine RBI, and seven steals in seven tries in 38 games, while freshman IF Alex LiDonni (Norwood, Mass.) was 20-for-74 (.270) with 15 runs, four doubles, one homer, and 13 RBI in 31 games (all starts), and sophomore OF Alex Rokicki (Truro, Mass.) was 18-for-69 (.261) with 19 runs, four doubles, two homers, and 14 RBI.  Junior OF Joe Markovich (Mill Creek, Wash.) hit .277 (18-for-65) with 12 runs, five doubles, a home run, and 16 RBI, while sophomore IF Kevin Collins (Easton, Conn.) was 10-for-48 (.208) with 11 runs and four RBI, and freshman C Kevin Mortimer (Spencer, Mass.) batted .372 (16-for-43) with a home run and 11 RBI. 

On the mound, senior Jeremiah Bayer (Greenfield, Mass.) set a new College record for wins with a 12-1 record in 14 appearances and 11 starts, and added a save, five complete games, two shutouts, and 94 strikeouts against just 24 walks and led the nation with a 0.85 earned run average in 95.1 innings of work.  Sophomore Andrew Janiga (Ellington, Conn.) was 5-2 with one save and 34 strikeouts in 11 appearances (nine starts) and 55.1 innings pitched for a 2.93 ERA (2nd in NESCAC), while freshman lefty James Ramsey (Belmont, Mass.) posted a 7-1 mark in 13 appearances (nine starts) and 57.2 innings with 48 strikeouts, and a 4.37 ERA.  Junior southpaw Derek Anderson (Great Falls, Va.) worked with equal effectiveness starting or relieving and finished with a 5-2 record with 34 strikeouts and a 3.40 ERA in 11 appearances (five starts) and 39.2 innings, while classmate Conor O'Sullivan-Pierce (Cambridge, Mass.) added a 2-0 record, 33 strikeouts against 16 walks, and a 1.72 ERA in a team-high 17 appearances (two starts) and 31.1 innings pitched.  Junior Jason Simoni (Old Saybrook, Conn.) was 2-0 with nine K's and a 2.65 ERA in seven appearances (one start) and 17 innings and senior Andrew Rathmann-Noonan (Berwyn, Pa.) was 0-1 with 12 strikeouts in eight appearances (two  starts) and 13 innings pitched for a 10.38 ERA.  Bayer was selected as NESCAC Pitcher of the Week twice this season.  In his two-year career after transferring from Division I Vermont, Bayer was 21-1 (.955 winning percentage) with two saves, six complete games, two shutouts, 165 strikeouts, 41 walks, and a 1.07 ERA in 31 appearances (20 starts) and 176.1 innings pitched.  Rathmann-Noonan closes his college career at 0-1 with 29 strikeouts and a 7.59 ERA in 23 appearances (three starts) and 32 innings of work. 

Bayer was selected as the 2009 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Division III Pitcher of the Year and the D3Baseball.com National Pitcher of the Year, while Bayer and Killeen were each selected to the D3Baseball.com All-American First Team, the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Division III All-American First Team, the ECAC Division III All-New England Team, and for the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA Senior All-Star Game.  Bayer was also chosen as the NCBWA and the NEIBA Division III Pitcher of the Year, and joined Killeen and Graham on the All-NEIBA First Team.  Bayer was selected as NESCAC Pitcher of the Year, Killeen was named as the both the NCBWA New England Player of the Year and the NESCAC Player of the Year, and Graham was honored as the NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year.  Piacentini graced the All-NESCAC First Team, and Sullivan earned a spot on the All-NESCAC Second Team.  In addition, Abbott represented the Bantams on the NESCAC All-Sportsmanship Team and senior C Jacob Donnelly (Suffield, Conn.) and junior LHP Doug Loudon (Dover, N.H.) were each selected to the 2009 NESCAC All-Academic Team.  The Boston Red Sox selected Bayer in the 30th round of Major League Baseball's Amateur Draft, and Killeen signed a free agent contract with the Red Sox shortly after the conclusion of the draft.