University of Minnesota Duluth senior pitcher/outfielder Tim Battaglia, the only player in the 33-year history of the Bulldog baseball program to eclipse the .400 batting plateau for a career, was selected to the All-Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference first team for a second straight time the league announced today.

The Cloquet, Minn. native finished his senior season batting a team-high .404 (55-for-136) with 12 doubles, a pair of triples, seven home runs, 36 RBI, and 36 runs scored. On the mound, Battaglia paced the team in wins (5), appearances (10), starts (10), complete games (3), innings pitched (56 1/3) and strikeouts (43). The senior also ranked fifth in the NSIC in both earned run average (3.75) and opponent's batting average (.252) and placed 10th in batters struck out.

Battaglia closed the books on his standout career as a Bulldog owning at least a share of nine club single-season and lifetime records. He holds UMD career marks for hitting (.410) and total bases (298) and single-season standards for hits (71), home runs (15), total bases (130), RBI (65), hitting streak (22 games), games played (47) and fielding percentage (1.000) -- alll of which were established in 2003. Battaglia was a two-time All-NSIC first team pick (2003 and 2004), the 2003 NSIC Player of the Year, a 2003 American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) All-Central Region First Team selection as well as the 2003 Central Region Player of the Year and is the first, and only UMD Bulldog, to be selected as an ABCA First Team All-American.

Senior Adam Keeler (OF, Eagan, Minn.) and sophomore Alex Johnson (2B, Forest Lake, Minn.) also each made their first appearance on the All-NSIC team as they were both selected as honorable mention picks.

The Bulldogs wrapped up 2004 with 26-15 overall record and posted a 17-8 record in their final season in the NSIC--a mark good for third place in the regular season standings. Since Scott Hanna took over the head coaching duties in 1979, the Bulldogs have finished in the top three spots in the league standings in 19 of 26 seasons. After starting the year 7-11, the 2004 Bulldogs rebounded to win 19 of their final 21 regular season games and qualified for the NSIC Tournament for the second consecutive spring.