20082008 NECNECNEC BASEBALLBASEBALLBASEBALL NN EWSEWS && NN OTESOTES 200 Cottontail Lane, Vantage Court North, Somerset, NJ 08873 Contact: Ralph Ventre, Asst. Dir. Comm. Phone: 732-469-0440/Fax: 732-469-0744 E-Mail: [email protected] Central Connecticut State • Fairleigh Dickinson • Long Island • Monmouth • Mount St. Mary’s Quinnipiac • Robert Morris • Sacred Heart • St. Francis (NY) • St. Francis (PA) • Wagner NEC Baseball Northeast Conference Baseball Facts & Figures (Week 7 - April 7, 2008)

Latest Results School NEC Pct. Overall Pct. Streak Home Away Neutral Tuesday, April 1 Saturday, April 5 1. Monmouth 4-0 1.000 13-8 .619 W11 5-0 6-6 2-2 MONMOUTH 11, Princeton 8 WAGNER 16, LONG ISLAND 5 Wagner 4-0 1.000 11-12 .478 W4 7-3 4-9 0-0 QUINNIPIAC at Siena, cancelled WAGNER 3, LONG ISLAND 0 URI at CENTRAL CONN ST. , ppd MOUNT 7, FDU 3 Central Conn. St. 4-0 1.000 8-11 .421 W5 4-0 2-4 2-7 MONMOUTH 12, SACRED HEART 0 4. Mount St. Mary's 2-1 .667 3-18 .143 L1 1-8 2-4 0-6 Wednesday, April 2 MONMOUTH 12, SACRED HEART 0 MONMOUTH 6, Rutgers 5 CENTRAL CONN ST. 3, QUINNIPIAC 2 5. Fairleigh Dickinson 1-2 .333 5-20 .200 W1 3-5 2-5 0-10 Yale 19, QUINNIPIAC 13 CENTRAL CONN ST. 5, QUINNIPIAC 2 6. Long Island 0-4 .000 8-17 .320 L5 2-1 2-9 4-7 St. Peter’s 17, LONG ISLAND 11 Quinnipiac 0-4 .000 5-15 .250 L6 1-3 3-9 1-3 SACRED HEART 14, Iona 10 Sunday, April 6 Seaton Hall 9, FDU 4 CENTRAL CONN ST. 5, QUINNIPIAC 2 Sacred Heart 0-4 .000 2-23 .080 L4 1-6 1-17 0-0 Manhattan 15, WAGNER 0 Central Conn 6, QUINNIPIAC 1 MONMOUTH 17, SACRED HEART 0 The top four teams based on conference winning percentage qualify for the NEC Tournament. MONMOUTH 5, SACRED HEART 4 (11 innings) MOUNT 1, FDU 0 Akadema/NEC Player of the Week (11 innings) FDU 4, MOUNT 1 Kyle Higgins, Monmouth NEC Teams appear in ALL CAPS. Sr., SS, R/R, 6-1, 185 lbs., Green Brook, NJ/Watchung Hills Underlined Team is home. No underline indicates neutral site. Monmouth’s veteran lead-off hitter was the centerpiece of an offensive explosion that yielded 63 runs over six games, all Monmouth victories. Higgins collected at least two hits in each of the six wins as part of his Akadema/NEC Player of the Week 15-of-28 (.536) week at the plate that included five bases on balls. The senior lead-off man, who Mar. 3 Kevin McDonnell, Wagner connected on three doubles, drove in six runs and scored another 10. Effectively utilizing his base- Mar. 10 John Delaney, Quinnipiac running ability in numerous key spots during the week, the speedy short stop stole a base in all but one Mar. 17 Kyle Higgins, Monmouth Mar. 24 James Jones, Long Island game while totaling six swipes. With Monmouth and Rutgers tied at 4-4 in the bottom of the sixth, Higgins Mar. 31 Nick Pulsonetti, Monmouth walked, stole second, and eventually scored to put the Hawks ahead for good. Higgins came up big again Apr. 7 Kyle Higgins, Monmouth in the series finale against Sacred Heart when he led off the top of the 11th with a and came around Akadema/NEC of the Week to score the game-winning of a 5-4 victory that completed a four-game sweep of the Pioneers and ran Mar. 3 Brad Brach, Monmouth MU’s win streak to 11. Mar. 10 Matt Gianini, CCSU Mar. 17 Joe Testa, Wagner Akadema/NEC Pitcher of the Week Mar. 24 Jack Rice, Wagner Ryan Buch, Monmouth Mar. 31 Kyle Breese, Monmouth Apr. 7 Ryan Buch, Monmouth So., RHP, 6-3, 195, Yardley, PA/Conwell Egan Catholic Akadema/NEC Rookie of the Week While the Monmouth offense provided all the run support Buch would need before he even stepped on Mar. 3 Jack Rice, Wagner the mound in Sunday’s 17-0 victory over Sacred Heart, the sophomore right-hander was practically Mar. 10 Brian Martutartus, Wagner untouchable in notching his third win this season and first career shutout. Going the distance, Buch Mar. 17 Nick Pulsonetti, Monmouth allowed one and struck out a career-high 14 over seven masterful innings. Carrying his no-hit bid into Mar. 24 Erin Hinkle, Long Island the sixth, Buch fanned the lead-off batter before allowing a first-pitch single to SHU shortstop Phil Tantillo. Mar. 31 Nick Pulsonetti, Monmouth Apr. 7 Nick Pulsonetti, Monmouth Now 3-1 this season, Buch has 12 career victories less than half-way through his second collegiate season. Akadema/NEC Rookie of the Week Nick Pulsonetti, Monmouth Fr., OF/DH, R/R, 6-1, 210 lbs., Old Tappan, NJ/Northern Valley Regional Pulsonetti claims his third NEC Rookie of the Week award and in four weeks after productive display at the plate during Monmouth’s six-win week. The freshman hit .308 (8-of-26), including three doubles and a , walked thrice, and tallied nine RBI to help the Hawks extend their win streak to a league-best 11 games. Moving well on the base paths, Pulsonetti came around to score each of his 11 times on base. His lone round-tripper on the week proved to be the difference in MU’s 11-8 non-league win over Princeton. With the Hawks trailing 8-7 in the sixth frame and a runner on second, Pulsonetti AkademaPro.com deposited a 1-2 pitch over the wall in left centerfield for his team-leading fourth home run of the season. NEC Baseball Notes: NEC Baseball Facts & Figures (through games of April 6) Team-By-Team Notes 2008 Northeast Conference Preseason Coaches Poll Central Connecticut State (8-11, 4-0 NEC) 1. Monmouth (6) 5. Long Island The Blue Devils, now winners of five straight, improved to 8-11 overall after a four- 2. Quinnipiac 6. Wagner game sweep of Quinnipiac to open Northeast Conference play this weekend. The 3. Central Connecticut State 7. Sacred Heart games were played at Beehive Field in New Britain. ... The Blue Devils won Saturday's 4. Mount St. Mary’s (2) 8. Fairleigh Dickinson doubleheader by scores of 3-2 (11 innings) and 5-2 before picking up wins on Sunday of 5-3 and 6-1. ... The Blue Devils used only five in 34 innings of action against the Bobcats and had three victories. ... Through 34 frames this past 2007 Northeast Conference Final Standings week, Blue Devil pitchers posted a 1.32 ERA, allowing only five earned runs (eight total). They struck out 16 and walked only six while allowing just four extra-base hits in the four wins. ... The one starting pitcher who did not pick up the complete game School NEC Pct. Overall Pct. win was junior lefty Derek Roberts (New Britain, CT/New Britain) who pitched 1. Quinnipiac* 21-7 .750 29-18-1 .615 10 innings in the 3-2 series-opening win and allowed only two runs. Roberts struck Mount St. Mary's* 21-7 .750 35-22 .614 out eight and didn't walk a batter in the no-decision. ... Perhaps the most impressive 3. Monmouth* 17-10 .630 36-24-1 .598 performance of the weekend on the mound for the Blue Devils came in the final game 4. Central Conn. St.* 14-14 .500 26-26 .500 of the series courtesy of senior righty John Tesseyman (High Falls, NY/Maine), 5. Sacred Heart 12-15 .444 22-31 .415 who pitched a complete game, three-hit victory in a 6-1 win over Quinnipiac in the final 6. Wagner 11-17 .393 17-34 .333 game of the series. The lone run for the Bobcats came in the final inning and was of the 7. Long Island 10-17 .370 16-35 .314 unearned variety. Tesseyman faced only 29 batters in the game, two over the minimum, 8. Fairleigh Dickinson 4-23 .148 9-45 .167 and faced only three batters in an inning seven times in nine innings. He allowed only three hits, no walks, and struck out three while the Bobcats hit only .103 in the game against him. ... Other solid performances came from senior lefty Matt Gianini (West NEC Past Champions Haven, CT/West Haven) (W, 7.0 IP, six hits, three k's, one ) and junior lefty Ken Kerski (Waterbury. CT/Crosby) (W, 7.0 IP, 10 hits, three runs, 2 k's). ... Regular Season Tournament 2007 Quinnipiac/Mount St. Mary’s 2007 Monmouth Offensively, the Blue Devils batted .315 as a team for the weekend, with six starters 2006 CCSU 2006 Sacred Heart hitting at least .300 in the four games. ... The eight position players for the Blue Devils 2005 Quinnipiac 2005 Quinnipiac (and the ) were the same in each of the four games, and the starting 2004 CCSU 2004 CCSU lineup and order did not change in any of the four games. ... Eight Blue Devils 2003 CCSU 2003 CCSU 2002 Monmouth 2002 CCSU drove in a run in the game led by junior Casey Walko’s (Freehold, NJ/Red Bank 2001 CCSU/St. Francis (NY) (N) Catholic) five RBI. Sophomore Anthony Scialdone (West Hartford, CT/Hall), UMBC/Monmouth (S) 2001 UMBC sophomore Tommy Meade (Pearl River, NY/Pearl River), and senior Jak Kidd 2000 Long Island (N)/UMBC (S) 2000 Wagner (Casper, WY/Cook CC) drove in three runs on the weekend. ... Meade and Kidd led 1999 FDU/CCSU (N) 1999 Monmouth Monmouth (S) the way with six hits apiece in the four games. 1998 St. Francis (NY)/Monmouth 1998 Monmouth 1997 Marist 1997 Marist Fairleigh Dickinson (5-20, 1-2 NEC) 1996 Monmouth/Rider 1996 Rider 1995 Rider 1995 Rider Fairleigh Dickinson dropped three of four games this past week beginning with a 9-4 1994 Rider/FDU 1994 Rider loss at Seton Hall before opening NEC play with a scheduled four-game set at home 1993 FDU 1993 St. Francis (NY) against Mount St. Mary's. … After rain pushed back NEC Opening Day from Friday to 1992 St. Francis (NY) Saturday, FDU and the Mount saw their series shortened to three games when the 1991 Monmouth 1990 Long Island second half of Saturday's twin bill was halted due to darkness. … Senior outfielder 1989 Monmouth John Paganotti (Staten Island, NY/St. Joseph by the Sea) paced the offense 1988 Fairleigh Dickinson with two hits and two RBI against Seton Hall while junior utility man Jeff Vincent 1987 Fairleigh Dickinson (Murrysville, PA/Franklin Regional) reached base twice. … In the opener of the Mount St. Mary's series on Saturday (4/5), a trio of Knights - freshman Brian Dillon (Sarasota, FL/Cardinal Mooney), senior infielder Luis Rosario 2008 NEC Baseball (Bronx, NY/James Monroe), and freshman infielder Steven LaForge (Garfield, NJ/St. Mary) - registered two-hit efforts, but FDU fell, 7-3. … Freshman right-hander Championships Nicholas Melchiorre (Mount Laurel, NJ/Holy Cross) was nearly unhittable in at The Sandcastle, Atlantic City, NJ game two, working seven innings in a no decision. He struck out five, and was perfect through four frames, allowing just two hits. Vincent - who attempted to score from (Home of Atlantic City Surf) third base three times and thrown out each time - notched three hits in the 1-0, 11- inning Mount victory. Junior outfielder Matt Maher (Peekskill, NY/JFK Catholic) had three hits of his own. … The series finale versus the Mount resulted in a 4-1 victory for the Knights thanks to stellar pitching. Senior southpaw John O'Hara (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's) racked up eight K's through five innings en route to his second win of the year. Junior Ben Green (Plainview, NY/JFK Plainview) re- corded his first of the season, on the strength of four shutout innings, surrendering just one hit. Freshman infielder Andrew Ahn (Manahasset Hills, NY/Benjamin May 22-24, 2008 Cardoza) reached base three times, smacking a pair of doubles to drive in FDU's first Four team, -elimination tournament run of the afternoon and also scoring the game-winning run. Mount St. Mary’s (3-18, 2-1 NEC) The Mount won two of three games at Fairleigh Dickinson, the opening Long Island (8-17, 0-0 NEC) series of its 2008 NEC schedule. ... Senior second baseman Matt Eiden Long Island ran into a cold streak, going 0-5 this past week after winning eight of its (Silver Spring, MD/St. John’s) drove in three runs during the Mount's previous nine. … After losing at home to Saint Peter's, 17-11, the Blackbirds' bats went 7-3 victory in the opener while sophomore righty Max Brittenham (Stam- quiet for their Northeast Conference opening series at Wagner. In its five previous games ford, CT/St. Luke’s) pitched eight strong innings to get the decision. entering the series, Long Island averaged 9.6 runs per game, but saw only seven cross the Senior Josh Vittek (Eldersburg, MD/Liberty) belted a two-run homer plate in four games against Wagner. … After losing the opener 16-5, the Blackbirds got in the game to give him 27 for his career, one shy of matching Will three solid pitching performances. In Saturday's second game, a seven-inning, 3-0 loss, Vanjonack's school record 28. ... The Mount edged the Knights in game junior Kenny Cedel (Staten Island, NY/Tottenville) pitched a full six innings while two, 1-0, in 11 innings in a game that took two days to complete. The two allowing three runs on six hits and two walks to go with 5 K's. In Sunday's first game, a teams battled to a 0-0 tie in 10 innings before the game was halted due to seven-inning 2-0 loss, sophomore James Jones (, NY/Telecommunica- darkness. The Mount came through with a run in the top of the 11th on tions HS) went the distance without allowing an earned run. He gave up just three hits Sunday to earn the win with sophomore right-hander Brett Moore and three walks while fanning six. In the series finale, freshman Eric Hinkle (Ocean, (Clifton, VA/Paul VI) picking up the save. Sophomore righty Mike NJ/Ocean Twp.) allowed four runs (one earned) in 5.1 innings. … Junior Frank Matta (Woodbridge, VA/Potomac) pitched eight scoreless innings of DiMasi (Staten Island, NY/Moore Catholic) led Long Island with a .313 average for relief to earn the victory, striking out seven. ... FDU took the final game of the week, driving in five runs and belting a homer. He leads the Blackbirds with a season the series, 4-1. average of .347. … Hinkle's 1.89 ERA is a team best. … Long Island will host Rider on Tuesday, April 8 before welcoming Sacred Heart for a four-game weekend series. Quinnipiac (5-15, 0-4 NEC) The Bobcats dropped five games this past week beginning with a 19-13, mid-week loss to Yale and ending with a four-game sweep at the hands of Monmouth (13-8, 4-0 NEC) NEC rival Central Connecticut State. ... After plating 13 runs against Yale, Monmouth has now won 11 straight games after going 6-0 this past week, notching wins the Bobcats managed a combined eight runs in four games at CCSU. ... over Princeton and Rutgers to go with a four-game sweep of Sacred Heart in Northeast Senior first baseman Pete Kummerfeldt (Pompton Lakes, NJ/ Conference play. … The Hawks have posted a double-digit win streak four times in the Pompton Lakes) continues to produce offensively for QU. The left- last four seasons. … As a team, Monmouth batted .342 in the six games and registered a handed slugger owns a .333 to go with five home runs and team ERA of 2.42. The opposition hit .196 against the Hawks' pitching staff. … Senior 16 RBI over his first 18 starts of 2008. righty Brad Brach (Freehold, NJ/Freehold Twp.), who became the all-time leader in career in Monmouth history last week, added nine more K's this week in a 12- Sacred Heart (2-23, 0-4 NEC) 0 win over Sacred Heart. The senior, who upped his all-time record for career wins to 23, Sacred Heart was 1-4 on the week following a win over Iona and four now has 235 strikeouts in his career. He has pitched 275.0 career innings, which also now unsuccessful attempts at knocking off defending NEC champion Monmouth. leads that list all-time, surpassing Mike Benfield. … Senior first baseman Andy Meyers ... The Pioneers were outscored 46-4 in a four-game series with Monmouth (Stratford, NJ/Sterling), who had five doubles entering this week's action, added five over the weekend, but nearly stole the finale before falling 5-4 in 11 doubles in the six games. He now has 54 for his career, which is second all-time at innings. ... Monmouth pitchers threw 24 consecutive scoreless innings Monmouth, as Meyers passed Nick DelGozzo's 51 (1995-1998). Lance Koenig holds the until the Pioneers scored a run in the second inning of game four. ... top spot with 59 career doubles. Meyers also now has 164 career RBI in a Monmouth Junior Phil Tantillo (Blue Point, NY/St. John the Baptist) had the uniform, which is third best all-time at MU, as he moved ahead of Jeff Toth (163; 1998- lone Pioneer hit in the first game of Sunday's doubleheader, breaking up 2001). Former All-American Jay Law is next in Meyers' sights (167). Meyers, who a no-hit attempt by Ryan Buch with one out in the sixth. Tantillo had a became the eighth player in Monmouth history to reach 200 career base hits last week, solid week at the plate, collecting eight hits in 20 at bats (.400). ... now has 211 career hits, which rank sixth all-time. With three more hits, Meyers would Freshman lefty Matt Fitton (Lebanon, CT/Lyman Memorial) had the jump to fourth all-time. Joe McCullough (1995-98) tops the list with 247 career hits. … best outing of his young career in the series finale, going 5.2 innings and Senior short stop Kyle Higgins (Green Brook, NJ/Watchung Hills), who led the allowing just two runs on six hits. He struck out three and walked one. ... team with 15 hits this week, has 172 for his career. Only a junior in terms of athletic The Pioneers broke an 11-game losing streak during the week by eligibility, Higgins has 35 doubles and six triples in his career, which rank him amongst outslugging Iona, 14-10. Sophomore Mike Drowne (South Hadley, MA/South Hadley) pitched the first three innings against the Gaels and the program's the top-12 in both categories. … Monmouth has nine triples this season, didn't allow an earned run. At the plate he had three hits in six trips and as junior Chris Collazo (Wall, NJ/Wall) connected on his first career three-bagger this drove in four. weekend. The team record for triples in a season is 17 set during the 1998 season. … Senior Matt Marc-Aurele (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Valley) earned his eighth career win Wagner (11-12, 4-0 NEC) behind a 7.0 inning, scoreless outing against Sacred Heart on Saturday (4/5). The lefty, After dropping the first game of the week to Manhattan, the Seahawks making his fifth start of the season, scattered five hits, while striking out six batters. The rebounded to sweep a four-game set from LIU. Wagner posted a season- outing was his first complete game shutout since the 2006 season. … Senior Justin high 16 runs on a season-best 16 hits while walking eight times in domi- Esposito (Middletown, NJ/Middletown North) appeared in three games this week, nating 16-5 game-one victory. The Green & White then turned to its earning a win and saving the victory against Princeton. … The righty surrendered three pitching staff, posting a 3-0 game-two win and a 2-0 game-three win. hits while striking out seven batters. He now has 14 career saves at Monmouth, and Wagner capped the sweep with a come-from-behind 4-2 win. … With its picked up his fifth career win. … Junior Tim Ballard (Parlin, NJ/Sayreville) picked big week Wagner moved to 11-12 and a perfect 4-0 in the NEC for the up his third career win this week against Princeton, working five scoreless innings of second time in three years. … Head coach Joe Litterio also won his relief. … Monmouth has now won five straight against Princeton, and eight straight 149th career game to move into a tie with legendary skipper Herb Sutter against Sacred Heart. … Monmouth was 18-for-19 in stolen bases this week. … Sopho- for most wins in school-history. … Wagner is 8-3 in games decided by more Nick Vallillo (Old Tappan, NJ/Northern Valley) earned the win against three runs or less after going 8-22 a year ago in those games … A lot of that Rutgers, Monmouth's first win over the Scarlet Knights since the 2002 season, as the lefty credit can be attributed to junior Andrew Huebner (Hatfield, PA/ worked three scoreless innings of relief with four strikeouts, earning his first win of the North Penn), who has established himself as one of the premier closers year. … Monmouth's pitching staff in the first three games against Sacred Heart allowed in the NEC. He has saved a NEC-best five games while striking out 13 with 15 hits, all of which were singles. a 1.88 ERA over 14.1 innings. The hard-throwing righty has not allowed a run in each of his last seven appearances, spinning 8.1 scoreless innings while striking out 10. … Sophomore Matt Watson (Howell, NJ/Howell) lowered his NEC Baseball ERA to 3.67 after tossing 6.0 shutout innings with a career-high five strikeouts in the 2-0 Facts & Figures triumph over LIU. Watson has not allowed an earned run over his last 13.0 innings. … Classmate Kyle Morrison (Middlesex, NJ/Immaculata) was equally impressive with This Week’s Schedule 6.0 shutout innings in 2-0 game-two against LIU. The righty struck out four while allowing Tuesday, April 8 just five base runners in picking up his first victory of the year. … Southpaws Joe Testa Fairfield at Central Conn. St. 3pm (Brick, NJ/Brick Twp.) and Jack Rice (Middlesex, NJ / Immaculata) turned in prime performances too. Testa fanned three while allowing just two earned runs (four total) over Brown at Quinnipiac 3pm 6.0 innings in 16-5 opening game win to improve to 3-3. Testa has 33 strikeouts in 38.1 Long Island at Rider 3:30 pm innings on the year while the opposition is hitting just .214 against him. Testa's 15th career Monmouth at Princeton 3:30pm win moves him into fifth place on the Seahawk career wins list. Rice limited LIU to two runs Wednesday, April 9 while striking out three over 6.0 innings in moving to a perfect 4-0 on the season. Rice Quinnipiac at Dartmouth 3pm leads the NEC with a 1.53 ERA while Testa checks in at No. 2 with a 2.82 ERA. … Junior St. John's at Wagner 3pm catcher Chris Drechsel (Cranford, NJ/Cranford) hit a team-best .462 (6-13), includ- Lafayette at Monmouth 3:30pm ing a whopping .600 (6-10) in four-game sweep of LIU (4/5-4/6). He is now hitting a Iona at Fairleigh Dickinson 3:30pm blistering .448 (13-29) against the Blackbirds in his career. … Sophomore Vinny Avella Sacred Heart at Yale 3:30 pm (DH) (Matawan, NJ/CBA) also delivered a big week, hitting .438 (7-16) with four runs, two Mount St. Mary's at Maryland 7pm doubles, and a .563 . … Freshman Joe Jamison (West Caldwell, Friday, April 11 NJ/James Caldwell) had another big week, hitting .385 (5-13) with a team-best five RBI Monmouth at Wagner 3pm in the four-game set with the Blackbirds. On the season, Jamison is batting .367 (11-30) Sacred Heart at Long Island 3pm with a .567 slugging percentage, six runs, three doubles, and seven RBI. … Sophomore Central Conn. St at Mount St. Mary's 3pm Damian Csakai (Freehold, NJ/Freehold Twp.) continues to lead the NEC in stolen bases and swiped home for his team-best 14th bag of the year in game-two 3-0 win. … Fairleigh Dickinson at Quinnipiac 3pm Wagner hosts nationally-ranked and Big East leading St. John's on Wednesday (4/9) before Saturday, April 12 welcoming tri-state rival and preseason NEC favorite Monmouth for four games this week- Fairleigh Dickinson at Quinnipiac 12pm (DH) end. Central Conn. St. at Mount St. Mary's 12pm (DH) Sacred Heart at Long Island 12pm (DH) Around the League: Monmouth at Wagner 12pm (DH) Three-sweep Week Sunday, April 13 Three of the four four-game sets that opened Northeast Conference play this past weekend Sacred Heart at Long Island 1pm resulted in series sweeps. Wagner took four games from Long Island in an all-New York Central Conn. St. at Mount St. Mary's 1pm City battle of boroughs. Central Connecticut State swept intra-state rival Quinnipiac off its Monmouth at Wagner 12pm feet, notching four wins at Beehive Field in New Britain, CT. Defending NEC champion Fairleigh Dickinson at Quinnipiac 12pm Monmouth outlasted Sacred Heart, 5-4, in an 11-inning series finale that completed the April 14 four-game MU sweep. Fairleigh Dickinson and Mount St. Mary’s, who saw their series Coppin State at Mount St. Mary's 4pm trimmed down to three games after darkness halted game two of the four-game set, engaged in three narrowly-decided affairs. The Mount took two of three for the series victory. 2008 NEC Baseball Tournament Bracket

Saturday Night or Sunday Morning, It Don’t Matta #1 Mike Matta (Woodbridge, VA/Potomac) was a key player in the Mount's 2-1 weekend at Game #1 Winner of Game #1 Fairleigh Dickinson. The sophomore right hander came out of the bullpen to retire the May 22 #4 side in the Mount's 7-3 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson in the opening game of the series, but the more impressive performance came in an unlikely second-game scenario. In Game #3 Winner of Game #3 May 23 game two on Saturday (4/5), Matta came on in relief in the third inning and shut down the Knights with eight scoreless frames of seven- ball. With the game suspended #2 Game #2 in the 10th inning due to darkness and a 0-0 score, Matta did not officially notch the May 22 Winner of Game #2 Game #6 Winner of Game #6 May 24 victory until Sunday morning when the Mount scored in the top of the 11th. Matta, who #3 Loser of Game #3 lowered his season ERA to 1.10, has two of the Mount's three wins this season. Game #7 May 24 Game #5 (30 minutes NCAA Loser of Game #1 Rain Put Damper on Opening Day, Altered Every Series May 23 Winner of Game #5 after Game 6 Tournament Game #4 if necessary) Automatic Bid Inclement weather pushed back the Northeast Conference baseball opener for all eight of May 23 Winner of Game #4 league's teams, who were scheduled to begin their four-game league sets on Friday (4/4). Loser of Game #2 Loser of Game #6 Due to rain, all four NEC series began on Saturday (4/5).

Wagner’s New Home One of the Region’s Best Wagner recently reached an agreement to play its entire 2008 home schedule at 6500- seat Richmond County Ballpark. The official home of the Staten Island Yankees, the New York-Penn League affiliate, will serve of the home of the Seahawks for 23 home dates, including four four-game series against Northeast Conference opponents. The state-of-the-art facility, which opened in 2001 to house the Yankees’ short season A affiliate, sits on the north shore of Staten Island, only three miles from Wagner’s campus on Grymes Hill.