2011 All-MASCAC Baseball Team (PDF)

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – The Bridgewater State University baseball team placed seven players on the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) All-Conference Team highlighted by MASCAC Pitcher of the Year, junior Corey Batista (Fall River, Mass.).

Joining Batista on the All-MASCAC First Team are junior outfielders Joshua Ferreira (Fall River, Mass.) and Ian Williams (Taunton, Mass.) as well as sophomore utility player Tyler Dennis (Stoughton, Mass.).

Junior second baseman Dave Billotte (Norton, Mass.), sophomore first baseman David Pierce (East Bridgewater, Mass.) and sophomore catcher Keane Costa (Fairhaven, Mass.) were all named to the All-MASCAC Second Team.

Batista is 6-2 on the season with 72 strikeouts and a 1.33 earned run average in 61.0 innings of work.  In eight starts over ten games, he has hurled a school record eight complete games and four shutouts.  Batista, who has also played in 16 games at shortstop and has homered three times,  is second in all of Division III in complete games and ranks 14th in ERA and 31st in strikeouts per nine innings (10.62).

Ferreira, who has started all 38 games, is batting .373 (57-153) with five home runs, 12 doubles, three triples, 37 runs scored and 21 RBI.  He is also sporting a 588 slugging percentage and a .435 on base percentage.  Ferreira, who has appeared in eight games a pitcher, has two wins and four saves to his credit with 20 strikeouts in 16 2/3 innings.

In 37 games, Williams has produced a .343 batting average (46-134) with two homers, four doubles, three triples, 21 runs scored and a MASCAC-leading 39 RBI as well as a .463 slugging percentage and a .397 on base percentage.  An All-MASCAC Second Team selection in 2010, Williams ranks 14th in all of Division III in sacrifice flies with six.

Dennis has appeared in 20 games at third bases, six games at both second base and behind the plate and five at DH.  He heads into the NCAA Tournament with a .352 batting average (43-122), 13 doubles, a home run, 27 runs scored, 24 RBI and a .484 slugging percentage.  Dennis has also walked 17 times, been hit by a pitch five times and is sporting a .442 on base percentage.

In 34 games including seven appearances on the mound, Billotte is batting .315 (34-108), with eight doubles, 24 runs, 16 RBI and seven stolen bases.  He leads the team with a .457 on base percentage thanks in part to his team-best totals of 21 walks and eight HBPs.  Billotte also has a 1.64 earned run average with 38 strikeouts in 38 1/3 innings of work.

Pierce has played in every inning of every game this season as one of the top defensive first basemen in the MASCAC.  He is batting .296 (42-142) with ten doubles, two triples, a home run, 32 runs scored, 21 RBI and a .415 slugging percentage.

Despite being hampered by injuries throughout the season, Costa has produced a .357 batting average (35-98) in 29 games with four doubles, a homer, 17 runs scored, 16 RBI and a .429 slugging percentage.  He hit the first and only in-the-park home run in Alumni Park history earlier this season against Brandeis University.  Costa ranks 33rd in Division III in the toughest-to-strike-out category as he has fanned just four times all season long.

The Bridgewater State baseball team captured the MASCAC Tournament title and earned the conference's automatic qualification (AQ) into the NCAA Division III Championships.  The Bears, who are currently 23-15 on the season, will be making the program's 13th appearance in the NCAA Tournament which gets underway with regional play on May 18th.