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News Release

Jancuska Named Coach of the Year, Four Retrievers Named To All-Conference Teams

5/21/2008

Head Coach John Jancuska

Senior Joe Fowler

Senior Will Delawter

FARMINGDALE, N.Y.—UMBC baseball head coach John Jancuska has been named the America East Conference Coach of the Year, four Retriever players have been named to the All-Conference teams, and four players have earned spots on the All-Academic squad, the league announced Wednesday night at the annual awards banquet prior to the America East Conference Championship Tournament.

Seniors Joe Fowler (Wilmington, Del./St. Mark’s) and Will Delawter (Frederick, Md./Catoctin/Chesapeake JC) led the Retriever award winners with First-Team All-Conference nods for outfield and designated hitter, respectively, while juniors Wink Nolan (Ellicott City, Md./Calvert Hall/Maryland) and Scott Peddicord (Columbia, Md./Long Reach) earned Second-Team honors for the outfield position. Delawter was also named to the All-Academic squad along with senior Steve Russo (Lancaster, Pa./Conestoga Valley) and juniors Ryan Morse (Frederick, Md./Catoctin/Chesapeake JC) and Tom Meaney (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem).

Jancuska, who is in his 31st season with the Retrievers has now earned Coach of the Year honors for every conference that he has competed in throughout his tenure with UMBC and claimed the accolade in just his fifth season competing in the America East. The skipper took a 2007 Retriever baseball squad that finished seventh in the conference with a 13-40 overall and 4-20 America East record to a third-place regular season finish with a 21-27 overall and 13-11 conference record and has now had 19 seasons with 20 or more victories while at UMBC.

Fowler has now been named to an All-Conference team three out of his four years after earning All-Rookie and Second-Team honors in 2005, First-Team honors in 2006 and First-Team accolades this year. The senior finished the regular season ranked first in slugging percentage (.747), hits (71), RBI (36), home runs (9), and total bases (71) against America East Conference teams, and was first among the conference with 53 RBI overall. This season, Fowler has brken four UMBC career records with 197 games played, 752 at bats, 66 doubles, and 404 total bases in his four years. He is also just three hits away from the school record for career hits with 237 and is tied for fourth all-time with 31 homers.

Delawter picks up his second yearly award since transferring to UMBC for the 2006-07 season after an outstanding two years with Chesapeake Junior College. The senior has been named to the First-Team during both his years with the Retrievers and led all America East pitchers with five wins this season against conference opponents, while ranking second overall with 48 RBI, tying for second with a .634 slugging percentage and third with a .377 batting average. Delawter's current career average of .371 currently ties for ninth all-time on the Retriever career charts, while his 18 doubles and 32 walks this season ties the 10th best single season marks.

Nolan, a transfer from the Maryland Terrapins, began the season at a torrid pace, holding the top spot in the country in doubles per game for one week and consistently ranked in the top five for most of the season. He is currently tied for seventh in the country, averaging 0.48 doubles/gm as well as tied for 14th with 23 total doubles. Those 23 two-baggers ties the fifth-best mark for a single season in Retriever history and is also first overall in the conference rankings, while his four triples also ties the fifth-best single season mark and is third overall in the conference rankings. With all four of the triples coming against conference opponents, however, Nolan ties for first in the rankings and his 96 at bats against conference teams is also the top mark.

Peddicord got off to slow start, but exploded as one of the top Retriever hitters and the starting right fielder during the conference season. The junior's 37 hits ranks second against conference opponents, while his 11 doubles against conference teams ties for second. In addition, his overall .384 average ranks second overall in the conference and first on the team this season, while his .616 slugging percentage is fourth overall in the rankings.

Russo earns his first All-Academic nod after emerging as the Retrievers' starting third baseman and recording his highest career batting average with a .315 this season. Russo also tied senior teammate Mark Lemon (Wilmington, Del./St. Mark's) with five sacrifices this season and tied for third against conference opponents with three sac flies. The senior psychology major has maintained a 3.48 cumulative GPA over his four years.

Morse also picks up his first award, after transferring to UMBC from Chesapeake JC for the 2006-07 season. Morse earned a redshirt for the 2007 season, however, and has emerged as the Retrievers' top closer, tallying four saves in this season alone, to rank sixth on UMBC's all-time career list. The four saves also ties for fourth overall in the America East rankings, with two against conference opponents tying for third, and 20 total appearances ranks fifth, while nine of those appearances against league teams puts him into a tie for fifth. The junior visual arts major has maintained a 3.79 cumulative GPA.

Meaney was named to the All-Academic squad after starting 44 of the Retrievers' 48 games at catcher this season and tallying a career-high .299 average. The junior also ranks second on the Retrievers all-time hit by pitch chart, with 18 career touches and recorded the third-most instances in a season with 10 in 2008. The economics major has generated a 3.00 cumulative GPA over his three years at UMBC.

The remaining award winners for the America East Conference came from three different schools as Binghamton's Peter Bregartner earned Rookie of the Year honors, Vermont's Joe Serafin was named Pitcher of the Year and Maine's Curt Smith gathered the Player of the Year award.

First Team