Eastern Connecticut State University

 Peter R. Daniels, Jr. is of only three individuals in program history to be selected as both the team’s best hitter and best pitcher in the same season, and was the starting third baseman on the 1990 national championship team. As a first-year Division I transfer, the Meriden native led staff in wins, innings and shutouts and all starters in earned run average and topped all hitters in batting average, hits and RBI en route to earning All-New England honors for the first of three straight seasons. Named All-New England at three different positions (utility, DH and third base) in his career, Daniels’ left-handed bat was a key component in the heart of an order which averaged 30 wins and reached the championship round of  the NCAA Division III Northeast Regional Tournament each year. Daniels  batted .374 that season on a team which led the country in hits and runs en route to its first 40-win season (40-6). Daniels topped the team in batting (.438) and stolen bases (4) on the way to all-tournament recognition at the national tournament. Daniels was named first-team All-Northeast Region and second-team ABCA All-America in his final season. In three seasons, he collected 182 hits, drove in 121 runs and scored 112, stole 39 bases in 45 tries and graduated with the fourth-best career batting average (.374) in program history.  In his first year at Eastern, Daniels batted .408 and featured a strikeout-to-bat-bat ratio of 1-to-39.3. On the mound, he shared the team lead with 12 starts and 77 strikeouts and was 7-3 with a 2.80 ERA in 80.3 innings.The first of Daniels’ two shutouts in 1988 was a 1-0, seven-inning no-hitter at the University of Southern Maine.