DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Mar. 13, 2024) – The Mercy University baseball team plays at University of Bridgeport on Friday, March 15th at 3 p.m. before hosting the Purple Knights for a doubleheader on Saturday, March 16th at 12 & 3 p.m. The series concludes on Sunday, March 17th when the Mavericks play at Bridgeport at 12 p.m.
Who, When and Where
Date/Time: Friday, March 15th 3 p.m.
Records: Mercy (5-10), Bridgeport (1-9)
Location: Bridgeport, Conn.
Date/Time: Saturday, March 16th 12 & 3 p.m.
Records: Mercy (5-10), Bridgeport (1-9)
Location: Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.
Date/Time: Sunday, March 17th 12 p.m.
Records: Mercy (5-10), Bridgeport (1-9)
Location: Bridgeport, Conn.
Last Meeting vs. Bridgeport
Bridgeport earned a 3-2 win over Mercy on March 12, 2023.
Scouting the Mavericks
Mercy is coming off an 8-4 loss to Pace on Sunday. The Mavericks were led by sophomore Zach Ashline who homered and had a team-high two RBI. Mercy enters the 2024 season picked fifth in the ECC Preseason Poll after going 16-33 overall and 10-14 in ECC play last season, qualifying for the ECC Tournament for the third straight season. The Mavericks won their first ECC Tournament game since 2010 last season and look to qualify for the ECC Tournament for the fourth straight season under Head Coach Chris Schoen.
Leading the returners for the Maverick is graduate student Nolan Giblin who was named First Team All-ECC last season after hitting .326 with 33 RBI, 62 hits, 32 runs and nine stolen bases in 190 at bats. Junior Jaden Caballero was tabbed Second Team All-ECC last season and returns after hitting .322 with 23 RBI, 64 hits, 44 runs, 10 doubles and 23 stolen bases. Sophomore Zach Ashline comes back after a strong freshman campaign in which he was named Second Team All-ECC after hitting a team-high .385 with 24 RBI, 35 hits and 23 runs in 91 at bats.
Also returning is sophomore Sean McAdams who hit .324 with 44 hits, 31 runs, three home runs and 23 RBI in his rookie campaign last season. Senior Gabe Sanders returns after hitting .283 a year ago with 47 hits, 23 runs, three home runs and 27 RBI. Junior Joseph Gonzalez hit .266 in 2023 and returns after recording 28 RBI, 47 hits and 33 runs. Graduate student Justin Glennerster returns behind the dish after hitting .312 with 21 RBI, 39 hits and 16 runs scored a year ago.
Senior Janiel Ramirez recorded 16 RBI in 2023 and juniors Connor Ruland, Frankie Asaro and Alfred Hoti and sophomores John Nisco, Liam Padden and Kolongi Goins will also look to contribute for the Mavericks.
Leading the returners on the mound is junior Scott Scheppy who led the team with 74.1 innings pitched last season with a team-high-tying three wins. Scheppy made 12 starts in 2023 with 34 strikeouts and one save. Graduate student Ryan Dieguez is back after going 2-1 in 2023 with 14 strikeouts and a 4.37 ERA in 22.2 innings out of the bullpen. Sophomore Diego Wirz had a team-high-tying three wins in his freshman season and recorded 22 strikeouts in 29.0 innings.
Senior Ryan Rozinski was named Second Team All-ECC in 2021 and was named to the ECC Honor Roll twice last season after pitching 32.1 innings with 23 strikeouts. Senior Joshua Alvarado pitched 11.1 innings in 2023 with four strikeouts in eight appearances and graduate student John Gillespie is back for a final season after tossing 11.2 innings with seven strikeouts in 11.2 innings pitched.
Sophomores Riley Williams, Brian Zbytniewski and Ryan Ehret, juniors Matthew Manzoeillo and Denis Garcia and seniors Gabriel Soto, Gaetano Pennisi and Nelson Perez Jr. also return and will look to contribute in 2024.
Schoen will also lean on freshmen Peyton Jemison, Nevin Scaperotti, Jack Esposito, Joey Bodin and Kyle Engmann to help get the Mavericks back to the ECC Tournament. The Mavericks will also rely upon transfers Brandon Nolasco, Jack Sullivan, Amaury Soto, Lucas Prokosch, Will Sullo, Vonzell Rivera, and Camren Patterson.
Scaperotti pitched 57 innings with a 1.80 ERA during his senior year at Carmel High School, Esposito was named All-League and All-Section Honorable Mention at Yorktown High School and Engmann was tabbed All-County and All-League at Shoreham-Wading River High School.
Nolasco is a transfer from Division III Mount Saint Mary College and hit .300 with two home runs during the 2021 season. Sullivan is a transfer from Allegany College of Maryland, Soto is a transfer from Phoenix College and Prokosch is a transfer from Division I Fairleigh Dickinson University where he appeared in four games and pitched seven innings last season. Sullo is a transfer from Rockland Community College where he pitched 9.2 innings in seven appearances in 2023. Rivera is a transfer from Salem Community College where he pitched 81.2 innings in two seasons with 40 strikeouts and six wins. Patterson is a transfer from Bryant & Stratton College in Virginia.
The Mavericks have been led at the plate by graduate student Justin Glennerster who has been named to the ECC Honor Roll twice and is hitting .441 with nine RBI to go with seven runs scored. Freshman Peyton Jemison was named ECC Rookie of the Week on February 20th and was named to the Honor Roll on March 4th and is hitting .377 with six RBI, a home run, four stolen bases and nine runs scored. Junior Joseph Gonzalez is hitting .246 with seven RBI and a team-high 13 runs and sophomore Sean McAdams is hitting .417 with eight runs, three RBI and two doubles. Junior Jaden Caballero has five RBI and seven runs and sophomore Zach Ashline was named to the ECC Honor Roll on Monday and is batting .280 with a team-high 13 RBI and five home runs.
The pitching staff is led by freshman Nevin Scaperotti who was named ECC Pitcher of the Week on Monday. The freshman is 1-0 with a team-best 2.79 ERA in 19.1 innings with 14 strikeouts. Graduate student John Gillespie was named to the ECC Honor Roll on February 20th and has a 5.65 ERA with a 1-1 record in 14.1 innings pitched with eight strikeouts. Junior Jack Sullivan was named to the ECC Honor Roll last week and is 2-1 with a 1.69 ERA in 10.2 innings pitched to begin his career at Mercy with seven strikeouts. Sophomore Riley Williams was named to the ECC Honor Roll on March 4th after pitching 3.2 scoreless innings of relief to earn the game one win over Southern Connecticut State.
Mercy is 17-42 in their last 59 meetings against Bridgeport but have won four of the last six meetings.
Scouting the Purple Knights
Bridgeport is coming off a 14-6 loss against American International on March 3rd. The Purple Knights were picked fourth in the CACC North Division Preseason Poll after going 9-38 last season. Bridgeport is led by Jeremy Rodrigues who is batting a team-high .464 with a team-high 10 RBI and five home runs. Patrick Krempasky is hitting .333 with six RBI and 12 hits and Jake Woods has eight RBI. The pitching staff is led by Justin Nyarady who is 1-0 with a team-best 6.00 ERA in 12.0 innings with nine strikeouts. Alex Springer is 0-1 with a 10.45 ERA in 10.1 innings with eight strikeouts.
Next Game
Mercy hosts Dominican on Tuesday, March 19th at 3 p.m.
