July 31, 2001

The Siena baseball team (29-27/19-8 MAAC) was presented with its MAAC regular-season championship as the conference honored its baseball award winners this morning. Several individuals were also honored for their accomplishments--most notably Ryan Finn (Clinton, N.Y./Clinton), who was named the MAAC Player of the Year.

Finn, a junior outfielder, led the Saints in batting average (.332), home runs (13) and RBI. He did his most damage against conference opponents, batting .378 with 10 home runs in just 27 games.

Head Coach Tony Rossi was also presented with the Spalding MAAC Co-Coach of the Year award. Rossi, in his 32nd year at the helm, guided a young, over-achieving Siena team, picked to finish sixth in the preseason coaches' poll to the regular-season title.

Joining Finn, an All-MAAC selection in outfield, was freshman Kevin Roberts (Utica, N.Y./Notre Dame) who was named to the All-NAAC team at second base. Roberts ended the regular-season with a school record 67 hits and a .312 batting average.

Four Siena players were also named to the all-academic team. Junior pitchers Dave Pahucki (New Hampton, N.Y./Goshen), Brent Wengert (Whitesboro, N.Y./Whitesboro) and Jason Kiser (Braeside, Ontario/Arnprior) joined sophomore hurler Justin Knoff (Burlington, N.J./Holy Cross) as academic selections. To receive all-academic honors, a student-athlete must be a sophomore or above, a significant starter or reserve and carry at least a 3.2 GPA.

The Saints, the tournament's top-seed, will be in action at 5 p.m. today against Le Moyne College (28-13/13-8 MAAC), the four-seed.