Zeiner Named NCBWA East Region and NE-10 Player of the Week

Simsbury, Conn., native honored for first time after leading Skyhawks to 4-0 week

EASTON, Mass. (April 6, 2011) – Stonehill College sophomore shortstop Michael Zeiner (Simsbury, Conn./Simsbury) has earned National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) East Region and Northeast-10 Conference Player of the Week honors after leading the Skyhawks offense in a 4-0 week. It marks the third time this season a Stonehill player has garnered weekly honors from the NCBWA.

Zeiner, who earns the weekly honors for the first time in his career, led Stonehill to a 4-0 week as he hit a team-best .462 (6-for-13) with two runs scored, a double, home run and team-high seven RBI. He slugged .769 and posted a .500 on-base percentage from the No. 9 spot in the lineup for the week, committing just one error on 14 chances (.929 pct) at shortstop.

Zeiner was a combined 5-for-7 with a double, home run, six RBI and two runs scored in the Skyhawks doubleheader sweep of American International College on Sunday. He was 4-for-4 with a double, homer, two runs scored and four RBI in the Skyhawks game one win and then hit 1-for-3 with two RBI in game two. Zeiner batted 1-for-4 with an RBI in Tuesday's NE-10 win at Merrimack College.

Zeiner has started all 26 games in his second collegiate season for Stonehill and is batting .288 (23-for-80) with ten runs scored, five doubles, a triple, home run, 18 RBI and five stolen bases (on as many attempts). He has also played solid defensively, committing six errors on 118 chances (.949). Zeiner is batting 11-for-20 (.550) in six NE-10 games this season with five runs scored, a double, triple, home run and 11 RBI. He is second on the team with five multiple RBI games this season to go with five multi-hit outings.

Zeiner has played 50 games in his brief collegiate career, starting 35, and is batting .280 (30-for-107) with 12 runs scored, six doubles, a triple, two home runs and 23 RBI. He is also a standout in the classroom, having earned NE-10 Commissioner's and Athletic Director's Honor Roll honors every semester at Stonehill.    

Stonehill (19-7, 4-2 NE-10), ranked fifth in this week's National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Division II East Regional poll and fourth in the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA) Division II poll, returns to action on Tuesday when it visits rival Bentley University for a Northeast-10 matchup at 3:30 p.m. The Skyhawks and Falcons will wrap up their two game midweek series at Lou Gorman Field in Easton on Thursday at 3:30 p.m.