STANDISH, ME – Saint Joseph's College Baseball players Pat Moran '10 (Winterport, ME) and Sam Murray '12 (Walpole, MA) have been selected as 2010 NCAA DIII New England Second Team All Stars by the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC).
Moran, a fine pitcher and hitter for the Monks, receives Second Team honors as a utility player for the second consecutive year. For Murray, a left-handed pitcher, the ECAC postseason accolade is the first of his career.
A transfer from Division I University of Maine-Orono, Moran went 7-2 with a 3.52 ERA and 65 strikeouts – against just 12 walks – in 64 innings as a senior this spring. With the stick, the 6'4” slugger mashed eight home runs and drove home 39 with a .300 (39-130) batting average in 39 games. He paced the Royal Blue in innings, strikeouts and tied for the team-lead in wins on the hill and his tater tally led all SJC batsmen for the second straight year.
Moran capped his fine three-years at St. Joe's with a pile of accolades, as this most recent honor is the 12th postseason award of his career and fifth of his senior campaign. As a junior, Moran earned the GNAC Player and Pitcher of the Year awards, as well as NEIBA All-New England First Team and D3baseball.com All-America Honorable Mention honors. He will don the Royal Blue for the last time when he represents Saint Joseph's in the NEIBA Senior All-Star Game at Fenway Park on Sunday, June 6th at 3:00 PM. Moran is just the fifth player in program history to play in the prestigious event.
Moran ranks highly in the St. Joe's Baseball record book following three solid seasons as the team's top hurler. He ranks as the career leader in fewest walks per nine innings (1.39), ranks second in WHIP (1.17), third in victories (19) and fifth in strikeouts (183).
Murray, the 2010 GNAC Pitcher of the Year and First Team All-GNAC honoree, emerged as one of the top pitchers in New England after showing signs of dominance as a freshman before succumbing to injury. The sophomore southpaw went 7-2 with a team-low 2.45 ERA and 35 K's – against a measly seven free passes – in 58.2 innings this spring. Murray led the SJC staff in games started (10), complete games (5) and shutouts (2) and led NCAA DIII Baseball in fewest walks per nine innings for the majority of the 2010 campaign.
Murray capped his sophomore year ranking second in the SJC annals in fewest walks per nine innings (1.58), fourth in career ERA (2.94) and seventh in WHIP (1.28). His final 1.07 BB/9 rate as a sophomore ranks as the third best season mark in team history.
St. Joe's capped the 2010 campaign with a 35-13 record, with the win-count ranking as the second most in team history behind the 2001 club (38-6), with eight of the 13 setbacks coming by just one run. The Monks won three games in the NCAA New England Regional, including a 9-7 triumph over #14 Wheaton, and were one of three teams, along with top-seeded Tufts and eventual Champion UMass-Boston, to advance to “Championship Saturday.” For the Monks, the trip to the NCAA Regional Tournament was the fourth in the last five seasons.
Saint Joseph's posted an 11-3 record in GNAC play during the 2010 campaign and topped Suffolk, 5-4, in the conference championship on May 2nd en route to collecting the program's second conference crown in three seasons as a league member.
2010 ECAC NEW ENGLAND ALL-STAR TEAMS
About the ECAC
The ECAC is the nation's largest athletic and the only multi-divisional conference with approximately 300 Divisions I, II, and III colleges and universities from Maine to North Carolina and westerly to Illinois. Established in 1938, the ECAC, a non-profit service organization, sponsors nearly 100 championships in 37 men's and women's sports, assigns more than 4,400 officials in 12 sports, administers nine affiliate sports organizations and six playing leagues and recognizes more than 2,000 student-athletes through the public relations arm of the conference. The ECAC serves as the primary conference for select members in the sports of men's and women's ice hockey, and men's lacrosse.