DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Sept. 5, 2023) - Mercy University Baseball Head Coach Chris Schoen has made some changes to his coaching staff. Mercy professor Marc Palmieri has been hired to be the team's Pitching Coach and Frank Rodriguez has been promoted to Associate Head Coach and will work more with the position players with Recruiting Coordinator Randal Mendez.

Rodriguez is promoted to Associate Head Coach after serving as the Pitching Coach each of the last two seasons.

"I am very excited for our program and our student-athletes as we will continue to grow and improve the program," stated Schoen.

Palmieri was drafted in the Major League Amateur Draft by the Toronto Blue Jays at 18 years old and assigned to their Pioneer League team in Medicine Hat, Canada, but elected to accept a full athletic scholarship to Wake Forest University. He pitched four years for the Demon Deacons, and graduated the 2nd-winningest pitcher in program history in 1993. His record of 24-7-1 included victories over Miami, Cal State Northridge, Florida State, North Carolina, Clemson, Maryland, Fairfield, and Campbell with a save against Duke. He was named ACC Pitcher of The Week multiple times, and a member of the ACC All-Academic team. He then served as varsity pitching coach for a decade at his alma mater, Chaminade High School and since 2016 for Next Level Baseball. Since 2017, Palmieri has been a fulltime assistant professor in the Communication Studies program at Mercy University's School of Liberal Arts, teaching courses in Communication, Film, Shakespeare, Playwriting and Performance. He is proud to be the faculty advisor of the Mercy University Theatre Club, was awarded the 2021-22 Faculty Innovation Award, as well as the 2022-23 Outstanding Research Award.

"I cannot overstate my excitement to work with Coaches Schoen, Rodriguez, and Mendez on furthering the great work they've done evolving this program into a regular in post-season play. Mercy is a beautiful place to go to college, with an excellent faculty, robust student life, and an elite athletic program. I look forward to sharing my passion for college baseball with these talented young men," stated Palmieri.