ANNVILLE, Pa. (May 14, 2021) – The Stevens Institute of Technology baseball program led the MAC Freedom with eight All-Conference selections including four being selected as First Team All-Conference honorees, the league announced Friday.

Graduate student Chandler Brierley, sophomore Ryan Shea, senior Nate Zuckerman and junior Ryan Wall all landed on the First Team while sophomore Anthony Pron, senior Thomas Paulich and first-year Johnny Albrecht earned Second Team honors and sophomore Brett Mendez picked up Honorable Mention All-Conference accolades.

The eight All-Conference selections are the most for the Ducks since 2013 when Stevens earned nine All-Empire 8 Conference honors after posting a 23-18 overall record. It is also the first all-conference selection for all eight student-athletes who were honored.

"Our coaching staff is so proud of all of this year's All-Conference honorees," head coach Kristaps Aldins said. "I thought there were also a few others who could have been recognized, but we are thrilled to see so many of our Ducks student-athletes make it on here."

Brierley was named to the first team after posting a 4-3 record with a 4.78 ERA over 43 1/3 innings pitched this season. He currently leads the MAC Freedom with 62 strikeouts and ranks 22nd in all of NCAA Division III with 12.88 strikeouts per nine innings among pitchers who have thrown at least 20 innings this season.

In his first season as a starter, Shea has been dynamite with a 4-0 record as he ranks second in the MAC Freedom with a 2.80 ERA. In 35 1/3 innings this season, Shea has struck out 31 batters while allowing just 17 walks. Additionally, the Ducks have won all seven games Shea has started this season, including the winner-take-all game three against DeSales University in the MAC Freedom Semifinals.

A stalwart in the lineup all season for the Ducks, Zuckerman has started 32 of the 33 games this season and is hitting .337. Zuckerman ranks 11th in the conference in hits (35) and runs scored (38) while sitting 13th with a .467 on-base percentage. A true team player, Zuckerman also leads the league and is tied for 13th in the country with seven sacrifice bunts this season.

Rounding out the first team selections was Wall who sits inside the top-10 in the conference in slugging percentage, RBIs, doubles, hits and home runs this season. Wall has been a run-producing machine this season with a team-high 32 RBIs and he has driven in at least one run in 12 of his last 16 games. He also leads the club with six long balls on the year and has reached base safely in 26 of the 31 contests he has started.

Leading off the second team accolades for the Ducks was Pron after being the Ducks' primary shutdown closer out of the pen this season. In 22 2/3 innings, Pron has 34 strikeouts and has a 2.38 ERA while posting a 2-0 record. On the year, Pron leads the MAC Freedom and ranks seventh in DIII with seven saves. Stevens has a perfect 22-0 record in the 22 games Pron has appeared in and he has not give up more than two earned runs in an appearance all season.

Paulich has also been solid this season for Stevens, starting all 33 games at shortstop this season. The senior is hitting .297 and is leading the conference with 118 at-bats on the year. Paulich sits 12th in the MAC Freedom with 35 hits this season and has also been solid defensively recording a conference-best 105 total assists while contributing to 17 double plays. Paulich is also second on the team with seven doubles this season and is the lone student-athlete on the club to start every game.

After a fantastic first season on Castle Point, Albrecht earned Second Team All-Conference recognition after posting a .280 batting average and sitting second on the team and sixth in the league with 29 RBIs in 32 games this season. The first-year is also tied for fifth in the MAC Freedom with five homers, the last of which gave Stevens a thrilling 6-5 victory over DeSales in the first game of the conference semis that the Ducks eventually won in three games.

The final student-athlete to earn recognition from the conference was Mendez who was selected as an honorable mention after starting 32 of the 33 games for the Ducks at second base and posting a .361 average. The junior was extremely patient at the plate all season, leading the team and ranking second in the conference with 25 walks. He also was solid on the base paths as he was tied for the team-lead with seven stolen bases this
season.

"We have a talented group this year, but more importantly we have a bunch of selfless ballplayers," Aldins said. "This combined with their work ethic and team chemistry has helped put us in this situation where we are competing for a conference championship this weekend."

Up Next: That conference championship for the Ducks will start with a doubleheader at Misericordia University on Sunday at noon. If the two teams split the contests, game three will be in Hoboken at Stevens at 3:00 p.m. The two teams split the regular season series with the Ducks book-ending the series with a pair of wins. The Ducks are currently ranked ninth in the NCAA DIII Baseball Mid-Atlantic Regional Rankings. The 2021 DIII Baseball Selection Show is set to occur on Sunday, May 23rd as the 48-team field will be unveiled via a live stream on NCAA.com.

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