The winningest pitcher in UMass Lowell baseball history, Ryan Kearney carried a 26-9 career record for River Hawk squads that won three New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Championships and earned three trips to the NCAA Tournament.
With Kearney anchoring the staff from 1994-98, UMass Lowell enjoyed a pair of 30-win seasons and an overall record of 115-45 (.719). The right-hander set school records for most wins (26), career strikeouts (205) and fewest walks per 9-innings (1.96).
Kearney's finest season came as a junior when he ran a record of 8-1 with a 1.62 earned run average and 51 strikeouts. He was named to the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) All-Northeast Region First Team, the NECC First Team and was the starting pitcher in the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA) All-Star Game.
"Ryan was one of the very best we ever had," said Jim Stone, who coached baseball from 1966-2003. "And he played a position (shortstop) on top of that. He was an excellent athlete. We pitched him as a freshman and he just got better and better."
For his career, Kearney carried an ERA of 2.94 and walked just 60 batters in 275.2 innings of work. He still ranks fifth all-time in career strikeouts.
"Pitching and playing a position is not an easy thing," Stone added. "He played every day, and that was from his freshman year on."
After graduating from UMass Lowell with a degree in liberal arts, Kearney pitched in the Cleveland Indians minor league system for three years. He is currently a lieutenant with the Londonderry Police Department and a member of the Southern New Hampshire S.W.A.T. Team.
Kearney earned his master's degree in Justice Studies in August from Southern New Hampshire University. He and his wife Catherine have three children - Nathan, Elisabeth and Cory - and live in Londonderry, N.H.
