DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (July 14, 2023) – For the eighth year, Mercy College Athletics will recap the year by counting down the Top-10 most memorable moments of the 2022-23 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, Wednesday, and Friday for the next four weeks, culminating with the top moment from the 2022-23 athletic year being unveiled on Monday, July 31st.
No. 8 – Baseball Qualifies for ECC Tournament for Third Straight Year and Wins First ECC Tournament Game Since 2010
Coming in at No. 8 in our 2022-23 Top-10 Moments is baseball who qualified for the ECC Tournament for the third straight season and won their first ECC Tournament game since 2010.
Mercy entered the 2023 season picked fourth in the ECC Preseason Poll after qualifying for the ECC Tournament in both the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Head Coach Chris Schoen and the Mavericks opened their 2023 season on February 18th in Cary, North Carolina with losses to Goldey-Beacom and Le Moyne. Mercy bounced back the next day with a 16-5 win over Le Moyne before falling to Goldey-Beacom again to fall to 1-3 on the year. In the win over Le Moyne, sophomore Jaden Caballero went 4-for-5 with two RBI and junior Gabe Sanders went 3-for-5 with three RBI. Senior Janiel Ramirez also went 2-for-4 with three RBI. After the season-opening four-game trip, Caballero and sophomore Joseph Gonzalez were tabbed to the ECC Honor Roll.
The Mavericks headed back down south on February 21st to play at No. 13/18 UNC Pembroke. Mercy jumped out to an 11-0 lead and held on for the 15-11 win to earn the upset victory. The Mavericks defeated a ranked opponent for the second straight season and the Braves are the highest ranked Mercy has beaten in seven seasons under Schoen. Mercy handed 2022 NCAA Tournament participant UNC Pembroke their first loss of the season (9-1). Freshman John Nisco led the way for Mercy going 3-for-4 with three RBI and seniors Justin Glennerster and Nolan Giblin both went 2-for-5 with two RBI. Senior Ryan Dieguez pitched a scoreless third inning to earn his first collegiate win.
Two days after their upset win, the Mavericks faced RV Franklin Pierce and dropped a 5-2 decision in their first game in Myrtle Beach. Four Mavericks recorded an RBI the next day, but Mercy dropped a hard-fought 6-5 decision to Felician to fall 2-5 on the year. Mercy continued the road trip with a doubleheader against No. 6/9 Southern New Hampshire on February 25th. Sanders homered again but the Mavericks dropped 12-8 and 13-0 decisions to the 2023 East Region Champions. Giblin recorded two hits against Le Moyne the next day, but Mercy fell 15-0 to Le Moyne in their final game down south. Following the trip, Sanders was named to the ECC Honor Roll.
Mercy entered their 2023 home opener at 2-8 and were facing regionally-ranked Southern Connecticut State on March 5th. Freshman Niko Sorice homered in game two, but the Mavericks dropped 7-6 and 13-5 decisions to the Owls to fall to 2-10 on the year. Junior Ryan Rozinski was named to the ECC Honor Roll following the two games.
Sophomore Frankie Asaro recorded an RBI in the season series finale against Southern Connecticut on March 8th, but the Mavericks dropped a 6-1 decision to fall to 2-11 in 2023. The Mavericks snapped an eight-game losing streak and improved to 3-11 on the year on March 10th when they earned a 10-9 win in 11 innings over Bridgeport. Freshman Sean McAdams delivered a walk-off RBI single in the 11th inning to get the Mavericks back in the win column. McAdams went 2-for-2 off the bench with his first career walk-off RBI. Giblin went 5-for-7 with a game-high five RBI and Gonzalez went 2-for-7 with an RBI. Freshman Diego Wirz pitched three scoreless innings of relief to earn his first collegiate win. Mercy made it two wins in a row the next day when they earned a 2-0 win over Bridgeport in game one. Rozinski pitched five shutout innings to earn the win and junior Nelson Perez Jr. pitched two shutout innings to earn his first save as a Maverick. Freshman Zach Ashline went 2-for-2 with an RBI in the win. Mercy fell 3-2 in game two to drop to 4-12 on the year. Following the week, Giblin was named ECC Player of the Week and Rozinski was tabbed to the Honor Roll.
Mercy faced 2023 NCAA Tournament participant Pace for three games on March 17th and 18th. The Mavericks lost 3-2 in the first game of the series on March 17th and dropped 3-1 and 13-0 decisions on the 18th to fall to 4-15 on the year.
The Mavericks opened ECC play on March 24th against 2023 ECC Regular Season Champions Molloy. Mercy lost 9-4 in the first game on March 24th and fell 20-7 and 9-6 on March 26th. Schoen and the Mavericks concluded the series with a 17-4 loss at Molloy on March 27th with Nisco recording two RBI in the game.
Mercy resumed ECC action on March 31st with a doubleheader at St. Thomas Aquinas. The Mavericks snapped an eight-game losing streak in game one with a 5-4 win over the Spartans. The win gave Mercy their first ECC win of the season. Graduate student Steven Schoen went 1-for-4 with three RBI and his first home run as a Maverick and Giblin went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Sophomore Scott Scheppy pitched six strong innings to earn his first win of the season. Mercy dropped game two 5-4 to see their record move to 5-20 on the year. Ramirez hit his first home run of the season on April 2nd but the Mavericks fell 19-7 to the Spartans. Mercy concluded the season series with the Spartans on April 3rd with a 5-1 loss to drop to 5-22 overall and 1-7 in ECC play.
Schoen and Sanders both homered on April 6th in an 11-8 loss to D'Youville. Ramirez followed the next day with a team-high two RBI, but the Mavericks fell 5-2 and 8-4 to the Saints to fall to 5-25 overall and 1-10 in ECC play. Mercy regrouped the next day and earned a 7-3 win over the Saints to snap a six-game losing streak. The win gave Schoen his 100th career win, becoming just the third coach in program history to record 100 wins. Schoen went 2-for-5 with two RBI and Ashline went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Freshman Brian Zbytniewski pitched six innings with two runs allowed to earn his first collegiate win. In the win, Caballero recorded his 100th career hit. Ashline was named to the ECC Honor Roll for the first time following the week's games.
Mercy extended their win streak to two games with a 9-2 win over Staten Island on April 14th. Caballero went 5-for-5 with two runs and an RBI and Gonzalez went 3-for-5 with two RBI. Scheppy pitched 7.2 innings with two runs allowed to earn the win. The win moved Mercy to 7-25 overall and 3-10 in ECC play. The next day graduate student Kevin Seckler pitched 8.2 innings with just one run allowed and seven strikeouts to earn the game one win over the Dolphins. Ashline went 2-for-2 with a game-high two RBI. The nightcap saw Staten Island earn a 4-0 win to snap Mercy's three-game winning streak. Mercy cruised to a 16-8 win at Staten Island on April 16th to win their first ECC series of the season. Schoen went 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBI and Ashline went 3-for-5 with a career-high four RBI. Caballero went 3-for-6 with an RBI and Nisco went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Following the series win, Ashline and Caballero were tabbed to the ECC Honor Roll.
The Mavericks opened their ECC series with Queens on April 21st on the road. Giblin went 2-for-5 with a home run and four RBI, but the Mavericks fell 10-9. Mercy recorded their 10th win of the season the next day when they defeated the Knights, 11-5, in game one of a doubleheader at Mercy Field. Caballero went 5-for-5 with three runs and an RBI and Glennerster went 3-for-4 with three RBI. Wirz pitched 3.2 shutout innings of relief to earn the win. Mercy dropped a 5-3 decision in game two. The Mavericks got back to their winning ways the next day with a 10-9 win at Queens. Mercy headed into the top of the ninth trailing by two runs to the regionally-ranked Knights. Ashline was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and Giblin singled to put runners on first and second. Glennerster reached on a fielder's choice to put runners on first and third with two outs. McAdams then stepped up with Mercy down to their final out and hit his first career home run over the left field fence, scoring three runs to give Mercy a 10-9 lead. The Knights put runners on first and second in the bottom of the ninth with two outs, but the tying run was thrown out at the plate by Ashline, giving Mercy the 10-9 come-from-behind win. McAdams went 5-for-6 with three RBI and Gonzalez went 3-for-5 with three RBI. Graduate student Ryan DeMille pitched two shutout innings to earn the win. The win moved Mercy to 11-28 overall and 7-13 in ECC play. Following the ECC split, Giblin and Ashline were named to the ECC Honor Roll.
Mercy stepped out of ECC play on April 25th for a single game at Pace. The Mavericks earned a 12-10 win over the regionally-ranked Setters. McAdams went 3-for-5 with a home run and a game-high four RBI and Ashline went 4-for-5 with his first collegiate home run and three RBI. Mercy played their final non-conference games on April 29th at Shippensburg. Despite another home run from Ashline, the Mavericks fell 7-4 and 5-4. After the strong week, Ashline was named ECC Rookie of the Week.
The Mavericks concluded the regular season with a four-game set against Lincoln starting on May 4th. Scheppy pitched a complete game on the mound with just one earned run allowed to earn the win and Glennerster went 3-for-5 with two RBI as Mercy earned a 5-2 win. Giblin went 3-for-4 with three runs and became the seventh Maverick in program history to record 100 runs. On May 5th, the Mavericks picked up 9-1 and 8-3 wins over Lincoln to move to 15-30 overall and 10-13 in ECC play. Glennerster went 3-for-4 with three RBI and McAdams went 2-for-3 with three RBI in game one. Seckler pitched seven innings with one run allowed to earn the win. McAdams went 2-for-3 with an RBI in game two and Ashline went 1-for-1 with two RBI. Dieguez pitched two scoreless innings of relief to earn the win. Mercy concluded the regular season with a 10-3 Senior Day loss to Lincoln on May 6th. In a ceremony prior to the game, Giblin, Seckler, Glennerster, Dieguez, DeMille, Isaiah Ortiz, Anthony Burgio and John Gillespie were recognized for their contributions to the program. Mercy ended the regular season 15-31 overall and 10-14 in ECC play. The Mavericks earned their third straight ECC Tournament berth and would be the No. 4 seed in the following week's ECC Tournament.
Prior to the start of the ECC Tournament, Giblin was named First Team All-ECC and Caballero and Ashline were tabbed Second Team All-ECC. Mercy opened the ECC Tournament against No. 1 seed Molloy at Mitchel Field on May 11th. Three Mavericks recorded an RBI, but Mercy fell 12-4 to fall to the loser's bracket of the tournament.
Mercy made history the next day in winning the highest scoring game in ECC Championship history against St. Thomas Aquinas by a score of 21-17. The win was the Mavericks first win in the ECC Tournament since 2010 and the 21 runs were a season high. After two scoreless innings, the Spartans took a 3-0 lead on a Gregory DiGiaro two-run single and a Sean Lynch groundout. Mercy answered with a run in the bottom of the inning to make it 3-1. Ramirez doubled and later scored on a Caballero RBI single.
The Mavericks would tie the game at 3-3 in the fourth inning. Schoen and Ashline walked to lead off the inning and Schoen would score on a McAdams sacrifice fly to make it 3-2. Sanders singled home Ashline to tie the game at 3-3.
The Spartans regained the lead with seven runs in the top of the fifth to take a 10-3 lead. STAC looked to have the game in hand, but the Mavericks had other plans and came back with a stunning 14-run inning to take a 17-10 lead. Giblin singled and Schoen doubled to put runners on second and third with one out. Ashline then doubled to right center, scoring both Schoen and Giblin to make it 10-5. Following a groundout to make two outs in the inning, McAdams smashed a two-run home run over the left field fence to make it 10-7. Sanders singled and Ramirez walked before junior Jared Hernandez doubled to score Sanders, making it 10-8. Caballero walked before Giblin reached on a fielder's choice to bring home Ramirez, making it 10-9. Schoen drew a bases-loaded walk to score Hernandez tying the game at 10-10. Ashline was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, plating Caballero to give Mercy an 11-10 lead. Giblin scored on a passed ball to put the Mavericks up 12-10 and Schoen scored after Gonzalez reached on an error to increase the lead to 13-10. McAdams singled to center field to score Ashline to make it 14-10. Sanders capped off the impressive inning with a three-run bomb over the left field fence to give Mercy a 17-10 lead.
STAC answered with four runs in the top of the sixth to make it 17-14. The Spartans inched closer with a run in the seventh inning to cut Mercy's lead to one, 17-16.
Mercy continued to swing the bats and plated three more runs in the bottom of the seventh to make it 20-16. Gonzalez singled and McAdams reached on an error before Sanders tripled to left center, scoring two runs to make it 19-16. Ramirez then hit a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Sanders to give Mercy a 20-16 lead.
The Mavericks increased the lead to 21-16 in the eighth inning on a Giblin home run to left center field.
The Spartans would score a run in the ninth inning to make it 21-17, but DeMille induced a double play to give Mercy their first ECC Tournament win since 2010. Sanders went 4-for-5 with a home run and game-high six RBI and McAdams went 3-for-4 with a home run and four RBI. Giblin went 3-for-6 with a home run and two RBI and freshman Riley Williams pitched 0.2 innings of relief to earn his first collegiate win. DeMille recorded the final two outs to earn his first save.
The Mavericks would face No. 3 seed Queens in another elimination game later that day. Mercy scored seven runs in the sixth inning after the score was tied at 6-6 to take a 13-6 lead. Queens scored seven runs in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game at 13-13. The Knights scored the game-winning in the bottom of the ninth on a wild pitch to earn the 14-13 walk-off win, ending Mercy's season. The Mavericks would end their season with a 16-33 record, winning a game in the ECC Tournament for the first time since 2010.
The team did not only excel on the field but also in the classroom as Giblin, Dieguez, DeMille and Caballero were named College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District. Giblin was also named ECC Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year and ECC Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Head Coach Chris Schoen and the Mavericks bring in another strong recruiting class and will look to improve upon their 2023 finish in 2024.
Schedule for the Top-10 Moments of the 2022-23 Season
Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for the next four weeks, the Mercy College Athletic Department will release the Top-10 moments one at a time beginning with the No. 10 moment on Monday, July 10th. The No. 1 moment will be unveiled on Monday, July 31st.
No. 1 – July 31st
No. 2 – July 28th
No. 3 – July 26th
No. 4 – July 24th
No. 5 – July 21st
No. 6 – July 19th
No. 7 – July 17th
No. 8 – July 14th
No. 9 - Softball Qualifies for ECC Tournament for Third Straight Year
No. 10 – Men's Basketball Sweeps Bridgeport for First Time Since 2005
