Ioviero, Augustine Tabbed With Honors

Metuchen, N.J. (1/28/08) - Head baseball coach Neil Ioviero and former Cougar pitcher Joe Augustine (Highland Park, N.J.) have been selected as the New Jersey Sports Writers Association College Baseball Coach and College Baseball Pitcher of the Year respectively.

The two were honored on January 27, 2008 at the 72^nd Anniversary Banquet in Edison, N.J. along with 11 other honorees including C. Vivian Stringer (Head Women's Basketball Coach-Rutgers University)-Woman of the Year, Jack Cust (Oakland Athletics)-Designated Slugger Award, Bart Oates (New York Giants)-Hall of Fame, and Todd Frazier (Rutgers University)-College Baseball Player of the Year.

Ioviero, who was also selected as the ABCA/Rawlings Division III National Coach of the Year, ABCA/Rawlings Mid-Atlantic Region Coach of the Year, New Jersey Collegiate Baseball Association (NJCBA) Division II/III Coach of the Year as well as New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Coach of the Year, has accumulated a 281-125-2 record in his 10 years at the helm of the Cougar program. Ioviero's club captured the program's first national championship last spring, and just the second in school history.

Augustine, who concluded his four year career at Kean this past spring, finished his collegiate career with a 25-7 overall record in 35 starts, recording 14 complete games. A 2007 ABCA/Rawlings First-Team All-American, he sported a 3.09 ERA in 253 innings of work and also fanned 224 batters while allowing just 67 walks. This spring, Augustine broke the single-season strikeout mark with 103, while also tying the win mark at 9. At the conclusion of the 2007 season, Augustine continued his baseball career by signing a minor-league free-agent contract with the Kansas City Royals.