LOWELL, MA (June 25, 2007) – Jerod Edmondson (Johnson City, NY) and Peter Nickerson (Dracut, MA), who led the UMass Lowell baseball team to its 17th NCAA Tournament bid this season, signed contracts with independent professional teams last week.

Edmondson signed with the Nashua Pride of the Can Am League and has already played in two games while Nickerson signed with the Anderson (SC) Joes of the South Coast League and is expected to make his debut Tuesday night.

Edmondson and Nickerson are the 36th and 37th players in UML history to sign professional contracts.

Edmondson joins former UML standouts Steve Palazzolo (2001-04) and Allen Mottram (2000-03) on the Pride’s 2007 roster. Other UML and Nashua alumni include Marc Deschenes, who played at UML from 1993-95, Lenny Carter (1999-01) and Miles Page (2001-02, 2004-05).

“Obviously, (Nashua) liked Jerod’s offense,” said UML Head Coach Ken Harring. “He’s been a good hitter in whatever league he has played. He brings a combination of athleticism and speed. He puts the ball in play and will bring a quality on base percentage.”

Nashua is currently in third place in the Can-Am standings with a 17-11 record.

Nickerson, who is expected to start Tuesday night against the South Georgia Peanuts, joins former UML hurler Aaron Easton (2004), who signed with the Joes on May 5.

Anderson, in its inaugural season, is currently struggling with a 7-25 record.

“Pete is going to bring (Anderson) a winning mentality,” Harring said. “He’s a kid who has the innate ability to win games. He throws three different pitches for strikes and he’s left handed. He will inject a bulldog mentality into their pitching staff.”

UML is fresh off a 33-20 season (25-5 in the NE-10, second place) in which it advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 10th time in the last 11 seasons.

Edmondson, who shifted between outfield and first base, played three years at Saint Anselm before transferring to UML for his senior season. A rare four-time Northeast-10 Conference all-star, he started every game in 2007 and batted .336 with team highs of 23 stolen bases, 42 RBI, 48 runs, 74 hits and a school record nine triples.

Additionally, Edmondson slugged .495 and compiled 22 walks and 11 doubles. He was prominent among NE-10 leaders, ranking in eight categories including triples (first), runs (fourth), total hits (fifth), stolen bases (fifth) and RBI (sixth).

Edmondson is currently earning his master’s degree in criminal justice and has maintained a 3.35 grade point average. He is the son of Mark and Shannon Edmondson of Johnson City, NY.

A three-time NE-10 all-star, Nickerson went 6-3 this season with a 2.67 ERA over 70.2 innings and 11 starts. He also compiled 33 strikeouts opposed to 22 walks while allowing 21 earned runs and forcing opposing hitters into a .244 average.

Nickerson ranked among NE-10 pitchers in several categories, including ERA (10th), wins (11th) and opposing batting average (13th).