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LANCASTER, PA – Franklin & Marshall College is ranked #13 in the American Baseball Coaches Association/Collegiate Baseball NCAA Division III Baseball Poll announced today. The ranking marks the highest F&M has been selected in a national baseball poll since the team’s inception in 1877, topping the team’s 18th place ranking in the May 1, 22 and June 9, 1995 ABCA/Collegiate Baseball polls. Tied for second in the Mid-Atlantic Region rankings with #18 ranked Johns Hopkins University, the Diplomats concluded the regular season 26-9, including a 16-2 mark in the Centennial Conference to earn the regular season and home-field advantage for the CC Championship series on May 6-7 at Caplan Field. Ranked sixth on March 27, seventh on April 3 and fourth in the ABCA/Collegiate Baseball regional poll, the Diplomats have been potent at the plate as the team has a .325 batting average with 241 runs, 63 doubles, 11 triples, 12 homeruns and 143 walks. Second baseman Rob Stern (So., Franklin Lakes, NJ/Indian Hills), centerfielder Eric Milavsky (Sr., Medford, NJ/Shawnee) and third baseman Gary Kruger (Sr., East Islip, NY/East Islip) lead the team at the plate. Stern tops the team in batting average (.425), while Kruger leads in hits (57), triples (six), RBI (34), total bases (86) and slugging percentage (.637) and Milavsky is tops in runs (36), doubles (11) and stolen bases (21). On the mound, Franklin & Marshall has a 2.80 earned run average and has been led by the trio of Matt Metsch (Fr., East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick), Jeremy Knox (Sr., Bronx, NY/Iona Prep) and Ted Serro (Sr., Brooklyn, NY/Xavier). The 2006 F&M Senior Male Athlete of the Year, Serro is 6-3 with a 1.71 earned run average and 67 strikeouts in 63 innings this year, while Metsch is 6-0 with a 1.25 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 43.1 innings of work. Knox leads the team in victories as he is 9-1 with a 2.44 ERA and 46 strikeouts in 70.0 innings to anchor a staff which has allowed 83 walks and struck out 212 batters this year, an average of 2.55 strikeouts per walk allowed. Franklin & Marshall (26-9, 16-2 Centennial Conference) will continue the season this weekend at home in the Centennial Conference Championship Series. On May 5, third-seed Ursinus College will host fourth-seed Haverford College in a single elimination playoff game at 3:00 p.m. The winner will advance to face second-seed Johns Hopkins University at Caplan Field on May 5 at 11:00 a.m. in a single elimination game, before the winner of the game faces the top-seed Diplomats in a best of three series. Game one of the Centennial Conference championship series will begin at 3:00 p.m. on May 6, with games two and three (if necessary) set for noon and approximately 3:00 p.m. starts on May 7. ABCA/Collegiate Baseball NCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic Region Poll (May 2)
1. The College of New Jersey (32-5)
2. Franklin & Marshall (26-9) / Johns Hopkins (22-4-2)
4. William Paterson (26-12)
5. Montclair State (21-13-2)
6. Kean (27-13)
7. Arcadia (26-12)
8. Pitt-Bradford (20-9) / Juniata (26-9) ABCA/Collegiate Baseball NCAA Division III Poll (May 2)
1. The College of New Jersey
2. Wooster (OH)
3. SUNY-Cortland
4. Wheaton (MA)
5. Salisbury / St. Scholastica
7. Chapman
8. Carthage (WI)
9. Emory
10. Trinity (TX)
11. Western New England
12. Manchester (IN)
13. Franklin & Marshall
14. Millsaps
15. Ithaca
16. Aurora
17. Redlands
18. Johns Hopkins
19. St. Olaf
20. Wisconsin-Whitewater
21. Augustana
22. Otterbein
23. Bowdoin
24. Rensselaer
25. William Paterson
26. Marietta (OH)
27. Mary Washington
28. St. Thomas (MN)
29. George Fox
30. North Carolina Wesleyan / Montclair State
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