Worcester, MA --- Worcester State University Hall of Fame outfielder Eric Swedberg(Auburn, MA) was one of 52 former collegiate baseball players selected to D3baseball.com's 2000's Team of the Decade. Swedberg was one of 15 who was named to the first team and one of 10 to be honored from a New England school.
Swedberg was a three-time All-American in 2000, 2001 and 2002 as he was also the MASCAC Player of the Year in each of those seasons. Swedberg was instrumental in helping the Lancers reach the ECAC Tournament twice and in 2002 Worcester State captured the regular season and MASCAC Tournament crown to advance to their first NCAA Tournament since the 1983 season.
Swedberg led the nation in slugging in 2000 while he boosted three-year career totals of 148 runs, 202 hits, 47 doubles, 12 triples, 45 homers, 192 RBIs. He also had an eye-popping .467 career batting average and a .942 slugging percentage; both are the highest totals of any D3baseball first-teamer. Swedberg's name remains next to six career marks and he either holds or is tied with another player for four single-season records.
A captain in his junior and senior seasons, Swedberg was named the ECAC Player of the Year in 2000 as he won the MASCAC Triple Crown. In 2001, he was the New England Baseball Player of the Year. Swedberg was also an outstanding student-athlete as he was a two-time CO-SIDA Academic All-American and winner of the Howard C. Smith Award, which is presented to the best male and female student-athlete in the conference.
Swedberg also holds the distinction of being the only Worcester State player to have donned a uniform in the prestigious Cape Cod League serving as both a catcher and outfielder for the Bourne Braves.
Joining Swedberg on the All-Decade first team from New England were Shawn Gilblair (Windham, CT) of Eastern Connecticut and Jeremiah Bayer (Northampton, MA) of Trinity (CT). On the second team from New England include Bobby Doyon (Keene, NH) of Keene State and Dwight Wildman (Seymour, CT) of Eastern Connecticut as Nick Tempesta (Brockton, MA) of the Warriors, Sean Killeen (Greenfield, MA) and Kurt Pliantek (Wallingford, CT) of Trinity, Tyler Delorme (Enosburg Falls, VT) of Southern Maine and Chris Denorfia (Bristol, CT) and Mike Spavento (Milton, MA) of Wheaton (MA) all recieved a nod to the Honorable Mention squad.
Eastern Connecticut's head coach Bill Holowaty was a honorably mentioned as a coach.
Last season the Worcester State baseball team under the direction of 17th year head coach Dr. Dirk Baker posted a 31-11-1 record, captured their fourth MASCAC Tournament Crown and participated in the NCAA Division III New England Regional's.