NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Three Little East Conference student-athletes earned the opportunity to play at historic Fenway Park, host of the 2008 New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association’s (NEIBA) College All-Star Game on Saturday, June 14. Keene State College seniors Jamie Morin (Goffstown, N.H.) and Joe Rousseau (Nashua, N.H.) will join Western Connecticut State University senior catcher Matt Gardiner (Teryville, Conn.) on the 29-man Division II-III roster.

A team of Division I All-Stars (University) will play a squad consisting of a combination of Division II All-Stars and Division III Senior All-Stars (College Division) in the annual game. The University Division leads the all-time series 21-10-7, but the College Division team won last year’s game with a 2-0 shutout. First pitch is scheduled for noon.

Morin was the ace of the Owls’ pitching staff, leading the Little East Conference in batters struck out looking (26), earned run average (2.44), opposing batting average (.195), and runs allowed (21), while ranking second in strikeouts (71). The second-team All-NEIBA and All-Little East Conference selection posted an unbeaten 6-0 mark, including three complete games, in nine starts. Morin wrapped up his senior campaign with three consecutive 10-plus strikeout games, including a season-high 15 against Eastern Connecticut State University in the Little East Conference Championship Tournament on May 9.

Rousseau, a four-year starter at third base, helped power the Keene State College offensive to the top of the conference standings (.358). He ranked among the Little East Conference leaders in on-base percentage (2nd, .503) and batting average (3rd, .411), while ranking third in hits (65) and fourth in RBI (35) on the Owls’ squad. A steady hitter, Rousseau registered 20 multiple hit games, including a pair of four base knocks on the season, and three separate seven-game hit streaks. He drove in three runs on three occasions, most recently against Southern Maine in the Little East Conference Championship Tournament on May 10.

Gardiner is one of the most prolific student-athletes to suit up in a Colonials’ baseball uniform, appearing in seven of the 11 published career all-time records. He recorded 19 double this past spring to set the program’s single-season double mark, breaking the previous standard of 14. Gardiner led the conference circuit in doubles, while ranking fourth in slugging percentage (.651), seventh in total bases (97), and ninth in RBI (40). The third-team All-NEIBA and second-team All-Little East Conference honoree posted an 18-game hitting streak that stretched from April 8 to May 1. He collected a season-best four hits against New Paltz and a season-high six RBI at Plymouth State.

The inaugural NEIBA All-Star Game was played in 1975, when the University Team posted an 8-0 victory. The College Division team extracted revenge the following year, but the University Team won 14 straight meetings between 1985 and 1998 to take control of the all-time series. The 1981 contest was played as an East vs. West game.

(Information in this release used from NEIBA Web site)