DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Feb. 20, 2023) –The Mercy College baseball team plays at nationally-ranked UNC Pembroke on Tuesday, February 21st at 3 p.m. The Mavericks will then head to Myrtle Beach to face Franklin Pierce University on Thursday before facing Felician University on Friday. Mercy will then play a doubleheader against Southern New Hampshire University on Saturday before concluding their southern trip with a matchup against Le Moyne College on Sunday.

Who, When and Where

Date/Time: Tuesday, February 21st 3 p.m.
Records: Mercy (1-3), #13/18 UNC Pembroke (9-0)
Location: Pembroke, N.C.

Date/Time: Thursday, February 23rd 5:30 p.m.
Records: Mercy (1-3), Franklin Pierce (0-0)
Location: Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Date/Time: Friday, February 24th 12 p.m.
Records: Mercy (1-3), Felician (1-3)
Location: Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Date/Time: Saturday, February 25th 2:30 & 5:30 p.m.
Records: Mercy (1-3), #6/9 Southern N.H. (3-0)
Location: Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Date/Time: Sunday, February 26th 9 a.m.
Records: Mercy (1-3), Le Moyne (1-3)
Location: Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Scouting the Mavericks

·         Mercy is coming off a 10-0 loss to Goldey-Beacom in their second game of the day on Sunday in Cary, North Carolina.

·         Mercy was picked fourth in the ECC Preseason Poll after going 21-25-1 last season, qualifying for the ECC Tournament for the second straight season. The Mavericks played in the ECC Championship last season for the first time since 2010.

·         Last season, the Mavericks tied a school record for most ECC wins with 14 and Mercy earned their third 20-win season in six seasons under Head Coach Chris Schoen.

·         The Mavericks opened their 2023 season on Saturday with an 8-7 loss to Goldey-Beacom and a 10-6 loss to Le Moyne. Mercy bounced back on Sunday and earned a 16-5 win over Le Moyne before falling 10-0 to Goldey-Beacom.

·         Mercy earned two wins over nationally-ranked teams last season, defeating #14 Goldey-Beacom and #19 Molloy.

·         The Mavericks will be facing UNC Pembroke for the first time.

·         Leading the returners for the Mavericks are sophomore Jaden Caballero who was named First Team All-ECC last season and graduate student Kevin Seckler, senior Nolan Giblin and sophomore Nathan Rodriguez who were tabbed Second Team All-ECC last season.

·         Leading the Mavericks at the plate so far this season is Caballero who was named to the ECC Honor Roll on Monday after hitting a team-high .385 with five hits, three runs, three stolen bases and two RBI. Sophomore Joseph Gonzalez was also named to the Honor Roll after hitting .313 in his first four games as a Maverick. He had a team-high five runs and four RBI with five hits.

·         Senior Janiel Ramirez hit .286 in his first two games as a Maverick, recording three RBI, two doubles and two runs. Giblin hit .250 with two runs and four hits and freshman Zach Ashline had three RBI.

·         Junior Gabe Sanders recorded three RBI in three games and hit .250 and senior Justin Glennerster had two RBI and four runs. Graduate student Steven Schoen scored a team-high-tying five runs and had one RBI.

·         The pitching staff is led by sophomore Scott Scheppy who started the season opener against Goldey-Beacom and pitched six innings with four earned runs allowed and six strikeouts. Seckler started the Mavericks second game of the season against Le Moyne and tossed five innings with four runs allowed. Rodriguez pitched 4.2 innings against Le Moyne on Sunday to earn the win, surrendering four runs with four strikeouts. Junior Ryan Rozinski started the final game of the weekend and went four innings with four earned runs allowed. Junior Nelson Perez Jr. tossed two scoreless innings of relief and junior Gaetano Pennisi pitched 2.1 scoreless innings of relief.

·         Mercy is hitting .212 as a team through the first four games of the season and is pitching to a 6.69 ERA.

Scouting the Braves

·         UNC Pembroke has opened their 2023 season with nine straight wins and are coming off 12-0 and 9-6 wins over Belmont Abbey on Saturday.

·         The Braves went 38-17 last season advancing to the NCAA Tournament.

·         UNC Pembroke is ranked No. 13 nationally in the Collegiate Baseball poll and No. 18 nationally in the latest NCBWA Top 25 poll.

·         The Braves have won six of their first nine games by double-digit runs.  

·         UNC Pembroke has been led at the plate by Kody O'Connor who is hitting .450 with a team-high 20 RBI and five home runs. One-time NCBWA National Hitter of the Week Christian Jayne is hitting a team-high .500 with 19 RBI, three home runs, seven doubles and a team-high nine stolen bases.

·         Ethan Ott hits .488 with 16 RBI, a team-high 21 runs to go along with four home runs.

·         The pitching staff is led by Trent Harris who is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 12.0 innings with 19 strikeouts and just six hits allowed. Branden Kunz has a 2-0 record with a 4.09 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 11.0 innings.

·         Rhett James has pitched 5.0 innings out of the bullpen and has a 2-0 record with a 3.60 ERA. Luke Barrow has tossed nine innings out of the bullpen with a 0.00 ERA and a team-high 22 strikeouts.

·         UNC Pembroke is hitting .376 as a team and has a 2.57 ERA through nine games.

Scouting the Ravens

·         Franklin Pierce will be opening their 2023 season against Mercy on Thursday.

·         The Ravens went 31-17 last season and qualified for the NCAA Tournament.

·         Franklin Pierce was picked to finish second in the NE10 Northeast Division Preseason Poll.

·         The Ravens have won 10 straight meetings against Mercy.

·         Franklin Pierce is ranked third in the NCBWA East Region poll.

·         Leading the returners for the Ravens is junior Ian Battipaglia who hit .342 with a team-high 49 RBI and 63 hits last season. He also had eight home runs, 13 doubles and 45 runs scored. Senior Joel Lara also returns after hitting .294 with 31 RBI, six home runs and a team-high 48 runs scored.

·         Leading the returners on the mound is junior Kyle Roche who went 6-2 last season with a 2.07 ERA in 78.1 innings with 96 strikeouts. Junior Chaz Powell also returns after going 4-3 with a 3.08 ERA in 52.2 innings last season.

Scouting the Golden Falcons

·         Felician split a doubleheader with Assumption on Saturday, winning 5-4 in game one before falling 8-7 in game two. The Golden Falcons will face Southern N.H. on Thursday before facing Mercy on Friday.

·         The Golden Falcons went 26-22 last season, falling in the CACC Tournament.

·         Felician was picked first in the CACC North Division Preseason Poll.

·         The Golden Falcons have won seven straight meetings against Mercy.

·         Leading the returners for Felician is senior Edwin Tavarez who hit .351 with a team-high 49 RBI, 48 runs, 18 doubles and 11 home runs last season. Also returning is junior Dauri Genao who hit .314 last season with 31 RBI, six home runs and 36 runs scored last season.

·         Senior Chris Fernandez also returns after recording 35 RBI and five home runs last season while hitting .296 with 28 runs.

·         The pitching staff is led by senior Wilfrido Valenzuela who went 3-2 last season with a 4.46 ERA in 34.1 innings with 34 strikeouts. Sophomore Dylan Morrill also returns after going 4-2 with a 4.56 ERA in 25.2 innings last season. Sophomore Logan Waltz had four wins and two saves last season in 46.2 innings with 53 strikeouts a year ago.

Scouting the Penmen

·         Southern N.H. earned a doubleheader sweep of Post on Saturday, earning 9-1 and 9-0 wins. The Penmen will face Felician on Thursday and Queens on Friday before facing Mercy for two games on Saturday.  

·         The Penmen went 46-12 last season and advanced to the College World Series.

·         Southern N.H. was picked first in the NE10 Northeast Division Preseason Poll.

·         The Penmen are ranked No. 6 nationally in the Collegiate Baseball poll and are ranked No. 9 nationally in the latest NCBWA Top 25 Poll.

·         Southern N.H. has been led by Cam Caraher who is batting a team-high .600 with four RBI and three runs scored in three games. Mike LaRocca is hitting .455 with three RBI and two runs and Nick Schwartz is hitting .364 with one RBI and a team-high four runs scored.

·         The pitching staff has been led by George Welch who is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA in five innings with 10 strikeouts. Jeffrey Praml is also 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 4.0 innings with four strikeouts.

·         Trevor Anibal has a 0.00 ERA in 3.1 innings with one save and Josh Roberge is 1-0 with a 1.59 ERA in 5.2 innings pitched.

Scouting the Dolphins

·         Le Moyne is coming off a 16-5 loss to Mercy on Sunday. The Dolphins will face St. Thomas Aquinas on Friday and Bridgeport on Saturday before facing Mercy on Sunday.

·         The Dolphins will be facing Mercy for the third time this season.

·         Le Moyne went 27-25 last season qualifying for the NCAA Tournament.

·         The Dolphins were picked third in the NE10 Southwest Division Preseason Poll.

·         Le Moyne is receiving votes in the latest NCBWA East Region Poll.

·         The Dolphins have been led by Brody Keneston who is hitting .462 with a team-high seven RBI and one home run. Brady Fureno is hitting .545 with two RBI and Drew Carroll is hitting .333 with two RBI.

·         The pitching staff is led by Kennen Smith who is 1-0 with 4.50 ERA in 4.0 innings. Max Parker has pitched 5.0 innings with a team-high six strikeouts.