Click here for Complete List of All-NEC Honorees (PDF)

Norwich, CT - Bryant nearly completed a sweep of the Northeast Conference’s four major individual baseball awards, but LIU Brooklyn shortstop John Ziznewski busted up the Bulldogs’ potential monopoly.

While the NEC regular season champion Bulldogs sank their teeth into the conference’s Pitcher, Rookie and Coach of the Year awards, Ziznewski earned the Player of the Year honor and ended a 15-year drought in the process.

After earning all-NEC second team honors as shortstop in 2013, Ziznewski moved up to the First Team this spring and became the first LIU Blackbird since Joe Zeccardi in 1999 to capture the conference’s top individual honor.

The NEC Pitcher of the Year award went to senior Craig Schlitter. En-route to becoming the third Bulldog in the last five seasons to capture the honor, the veteran right-hander accounted for nine of Bryant’s conference-high 39 victories on the mound this spring.

Bryant is home to the NEC Rookie of the Year for the third consecutive season, and the fourth time in five years. Freshman outfielder Matt Albanese, who led the NEC in runs scored and doubles, earned the honor and joined the likes of Kevin Brown (2010), Kevin McAvoy (2012) and AJ Zarozny (2013) as a result.

Last May, Steve Owens became the first manager in conference history to capture back-to-back NEC Coach of the Year awards. Now, Bryant’s skipper is the first-ever to hold the honor for three consecutive seasons.

In addition to the four major awards, the NEC unveiled two 13-member All-Conference Teams on the eve of its 22nd annual championship tournament.

In addition to the conference’s top individual honor, Ziznewski earned all-NEC First Team status at shortstop after being a Second Team selection in 2013. He led the NEC in hits (72), homers (9) and RBI (55) while playing 51 games. He hit .365 overall and hit .409 in NEC games. The Staten Island also posted the league’s top slugging percentage (.589) while ranking second amongst conference leaders in stolen bases (18), on-base percentage (.431) and runs scored (50).

One of the greatest pitchers in Bulldog history, Schlitter has put an exclamation point on his historic career this season. He is 9-1 with a 2.17 ERA, 61 strikeouts and 17 walks in 78.2 innings. Schlitter was even more impressive in league play, going 5-0 with a 0.97 ERA. He etched his name into the program record books as he is currently in sole possession of second place all time with 27 career victories. Schlitter is also second all-time with 236 strikeouts and fourth all-time in innings pitched (283.2). This season, he has posted three complete-game shutouts, including a two-hit shutout of Wagner last Friday that earned him his fourth NEC Pitcher of the Week honor.

Albanese put together one of the best freshman seasons in recent memory to earn rookie of the year honors. Albanese is hitting .342 and leads the league with 16 doubles. He also has four triples, two home runs, 36 RBI and leads the team with 51 runs scored. Albanese hit .393 with a league-high 25 runs scored during NEC play. He was a four-time NEC Rookie of the Week and was also honored as the NEIBA Rookie of the Year.

Owens earns his third-straight coach of the year honor after leading the Bulldogs to their third-straight regular-season title. Under his watch, the Bulldogs gained their highest RPI in school history at 32 and are one win shy of recording their second-straight 40-win season.



Details on all 26 All-NEC selections will be published soon.