The honors continue to roll in for Warwick native and University of Rhode Island baseball star Zach Zuercher, as he was recently named to the Louisville Slugger All-American third team presented by Collegiate Baseball.
Zuercher, a 2002 graduate of Pilgrim and a transfer from the University of North Carolina in his first year with the Rams, was named the Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Year and is a finalist for the Roger Clemens National Pitcher of the Year Award. The left-hander posted an 8-3 record, tying the school's single-season wins mark, and had a 2.82 earned run average. He struck out 12 batters per nine innings, ranking him ninth in the nation, and totaled 123 strikeouts in 92.2 innings pitched. Zuercher posted double-digit strikeouts in 10 of his 12 starts, threw a school record nine complete games and posted a school record four shutouts. Opponents hit just .176 against him. Zuercher highlighted his season by firing a nine-inning no-hitter against St. Bonaventure on April 24, earning him National Player of the Week honors from Collegiate Baseball Insider and Baseball America and National Pitcher of the Week honors from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers of America.
“We were fortunate to get Zuercher as a transfer, and he didn't disappoint,” said URI coach Frank Leoni in a press release provided by the school. “He was truly one of the best players in the Atlantic 10 Conference as a sophomore and he should be a highly sought after Major League Baseball prospect next spring.”
URI was one of 13 teams that put multiple players on the three All-American teams, as URI senior Dan Batz earned second-team recognition. The other schools to receive two or more selections were traditional powers Rice, Cal State-Fullerton, Wichita State, East Carolina, Stanford, Central Florida, South Carolina, Texas, Miami, Southern Mississippi, Florida State and North Carolina.