DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (July 5, 2019) – For the fifth year in a row, Mercy College Athletics will recap the year by counting down the Top-10 most memorable moments of the 2018-19 season, with all 10 sports represented.
Mercy College Athletics will release a Top-10 moment, as chosen by the athletics staff, with a recap every Monday and Friday for the next five weeks, culminating with the top moment from the 2018-19 athletic year being unveiled on Friday, July 26th.
No. 7 - Baseball Posts Back-to-Back 21 Win Seasons for First Time in Program History
Coming in at No. 7 in our countdown of the Top-10 Moments from 2018-19 is baseball who posted back-to-back 21 win seasons for the first time in program history.
After posting their most wins in a season since 1990 in 2018 with 21, the Mavericks looked to duplicate that feat in 2019. Mercy fell just one game shy of making the ECC Tournament in 2018 and the Mavericks would look to get back in the ECC Tournament for the first time since 2010 in 2019.
The Mavericks opened their 2019 season on February 15th with two losses to Barton. Mercy bounced back on February 17th with a split against the Bulldogs as junior John Mooradian drove in a team-high three runs in Mercy's 9-8 game two win. Following the four-game series, senior Joseph Sadallah was named ECC Player of the Week headlining six to receive honors from the ECC.
Mercy headed back down south for their annual Myrtle Beach trip. The Mavericks faced tough competition down in South Carolina from the NE-10 and dropped four close games to fall to 1-7 on the year. Senior Anthony Murphy received ECC Honor Roll recognition following the four-game trip.
Head Coach Chris Schoen and the Mavericks opened up their home slate on March 3rd when they earned a split against Le Moyne. Senior Kevin Tise tossed six shutout innings to lead the Mavericks to the game one win. Following the split, Sadallah was named ECC Player of the Week again and Tise was tabbed Pitcher of the Week.
The Mavericks earned another split on March 9th against Virginia State before earning a win in the series finale on March 10th to improve to 4-9 on the year. Mercy returned home to face Concordia on March 12th and Murphy delivered a walk-off RBI single to lead the Mavericks to an 8-7 victory. The Mavericks ended the week and extended their win streak to six games after sweeping New Haven in a three-game set on March 15th and 17th. The win streak moved Mercy to 8-9 on the year and gave the Mavericks their first six-game winning streak since 2000. After the sweep, Mooradian, junior James Jakuba and sophomore Jack Kelly were named to the ECC Honor Roll.
The win streak came to an end on March 20th when the Mavericks dropped a 3-2 decision to Nyack. Mercy bounced back on March 22nd when senior Adonis Garcia and Mooradian both recorded two RBI in the Mavericks win over Queens in their ECC opener. The Mavericks dropped both ends of a doubleheader to the Knights on March 23rd before earning a win in the series finale on March 24th following a Sadallah walk-off RBI single in the tenth inning of a 3-2 win. Following the split with Queens, Garcia was named to the ECC Honor Roll and the Mavericks sat at 10-12 on the year.
Mercy resumed action on March 26th when they dropped a 10-3 decision to 2019 NCAA Tournament participant Adelphi. The Mavericks got back into ECC play with an 8-3 loss at Bridgeport on March 29th before earning a split against the Purple Knights on March 30th. Mooradian was tabbed to the ECC Honor Roll following the week and the series finale against Bridgeport started on April 1st but would end on April 2nd with the Mavericks falling 8-7 in 15 innings.
A second setback to Adelphi on April 3rd moved the Mavericks to 11-17 on the season. Mercy resumed ECC play on April 6th when junior Luis Grullart homered in two losses to first-place LIU Post. On April 7th, the Mavericks earned a win over the Pioneers in game one as James Dieguez had four hits and three RBI. After the four-game set with LIU Post, the Mavericks sat at 12-20 overall and 4-8 in ECC play.
The Mavericks faced 2019 NCAA World Series participant New York Tech on April 12th and Murphy delivered a team-high three RBI to lead Mercy to a 6-3 win. Mercy dropped both ends of a doubleheader to the Bears on April 13th before earning a series split the next day following a Murphy walk-off RBI single in the ninth inning, which gave the Mavericks a 5-4 win. After the series split, Mooradian was named to the ECC Honor Roll.
On April 16th, the Mavericks earned a 10-10 tie with Bloomfield, marking the first tie since March 2, 2013. Mercy headed back into ECC play on April 18th when they earned a 4-2 victory over St. Thomas Aquinas. The Mavericks would then split a doubleheader against the Spartans on April 19th before earning a 7-6 victory in the series finale on April 23rd. Sadallah was tabbed to the ECC Honor Roll following the series win. The Mavericks were 17-23-1 overall and 9-11 in ECC play and earned their first series win over St. Thomas Aquinas since 2010.
Mercy resumed action on April 27th against Lincoln and the Mavericks exploded for 46 runs in the doubleheader sweep. Mooradian had ten RBI on the day as Mercy improved to 19-23-1 overall and 11-11 in ECC action. The Mavericks capped off the four-game sweep with 11-2 and 12-1 victories over the Lions on April 28th with senior Miguel Ortiz Sanchez recording a team-high four RBI on the day. The two wins gave the Mavericks 21 wins on the year and 13 ECC wins. The 21 wins gave Mercy back-to-back seasons with 21 wins for the first time in program history and the 13 ECC wins tied for the most in program history. Mooradian was named ECC Player of the Week following the four-game sweep and Grullart was tabbed to the Honor Roll. Mooradian was also named East Region NCBWA Hitter of the Week.
The Mavericks dropped their final four games of the season to Molloy to finish one game out of the ECC Tournament for the second straight year. Mercy ended the season 21-27-1 overall and 13-15 in ECC play. The Mavericks finished with their highest winning percentage (.464) in ECC play in program history and their best winning percentage overall (.439) since 1991.
Several program records were broken during the 2019 season with Mooradian setting a new school record with 50 RBI and 75 hits. Junior Andrew Hernandez also set a new single-season and career program record for saves with nine.
Mercy had four ECC All-Conference selections led by Mooradian and Hernandez who were named First Team selections. Sadallah and Grullart were tabbed to the Second Team. The awards did not stop there as Mooradian was named CoSIDA Academic All-District and was tabbed ECC Scholar-Athlete of the Year for baseball.
Mooradian and Grullart were also named D2CCA All-East Region and Mooradian was tabbed NCBWA First Team All-Region. The shortstop also was named ABCA Second Team All-Region and was named NCBWA All-American Honorable Mention, becoming the program's first All-American since 1990. Mooradian had a historic season for the Mavericks leading the ECC in RBI (50), hits (75) and was second with a .397 average. The junior also placed third in the conference with 22 stolen bases and had an ECC-best seven triples.
The Mavericks will look to make it three years in a row with 20 wins in 2020 and will look to make the program's first appearance in the ECC Tournament since 2010.
Schedule for the Top-10 Moments of the 2018-19 Season
Every Monday and Friday for the next five weeks, the Mercy College Athletics Department will release the Top-10 moments one at a time beginning with the No. 10 moment on Monday, June 24th. The No. 1 moment will be unveiled on Friday, July 26th.
No. 1 – July 26
No. 2 – July 22
No. 3 – July 19
No. 4 – July 15
No. 5 – July 12
No. 6 – July 8
No. 7 – July 5
No. 8 – Softball Records Fourth Straight Season of 20 or More Wins
No. 9 – Bryan Griffin Named First Team All-Met and First Team All-ECC
No. 10 – Amber Brown Named First Team All-Met and Second Team All-ECC
