DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Mar. 7, 2024) – The Mercy University baseball team plays a doubleheader at Pace University on Friday, March 8th at 1 & 4 p.m. before playing at Pace on Saturday, March 9th at 12 p.m. The two teams conclude the series with a single game on Sunday, March 10th at 12 p.m. at Mercy Field.
Who, When and Where
Date/Time: Friday, March 8th 1 & 4 p.m.
Records: Mercy (4-7), Pace (1-3)
Location: Pleasantville, N.Y.
Date/Time: Saturday, March 9th 12 p.m.
Records: Mercy (4-7), Pace (1-3)
Location: Pleasantville, N.Y.
Date/Time: Sunday, March 10th 12 p.m.
Records: Mercy (4-7), Pace (1-3)
Location: Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.
Last Meeting vs. Pace
Mercy earned a 12-10 win over Pace on April 25, 2023.
Scouting the Mavericks
Mercy is coming off 6-5 and 4-3 wins over Southern Connecticut State on Sunday. The Mavericks were led by sophomore Zach Ashline who hit a two-run home run in game one and by junior Gabe Sanders who drove in the winning run in game two. 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 a team-high .441 with a team-high 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 .405 with six RBI, a home run, three stolen bases and seven runs scored. Junior Joseph Gonzalez is hitting .295 with seven RBI and a team-high 11 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 is batting .263 with seven RBI and a team-high three home runs.
The pitching staff is led by graduate student John Gillespie who was named to the ECC Honor Roll on February 20th and has a team-best 4.26 ERA with a 1-0 record in 12.2 innings pitched with seven strikeouts. Junior Jack Sullivan was named to the ECC Honor Roll on Monday and has pitched 8.1 scoreless innings of relief to begin his career at Mercy with six strikeouts and a 2-0 record. Freshman Nevin Scaperotti has a 4.63 ERA in 11.2 innings with seven strikeouts and 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 3-10 in their last 13 meetings against Pace.
Scouting the Setters
Pace is coming off a 6-3 win over Dominican on Sunday. The Setters were picked first in the NE10 Southwest Division after going 34-21 last season, winning the NE10 Championship and qualifying for the NCAA Tournament. Pace is receiving votes in the latest NCBWA East Region Top 10 Poll. The Setters have been led by Hunter Goldstein who is hitting a team-high .455 with one RBI, two runs and two doubles. Mason Baronian has a team-high five RBI and Anthony Labita has a home run and two RBI. The pitching staff has been led by Sean Costello and Vincent Vartolone who have combined to pitch 9.0 shutout innings. Dan Brown has a 1.50 ERA in 6.0 innings with nine strikeouts and Patrick Gleason has a 3.38 ERA in 5.1 innings with two strikeouts.
Next Game
Mercy plays at Bridgeport on Friday, March 15th at 3 p.m.
