DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Apr. 11, 2024) – The Mercy University baseball team plays at ECC foe No. 16 Molloy University on Friday, April 12th at 3 p.m. before hosting Molloy for a doubleheader on Saturday, April 13th starting at 12 p.m. The series ends on Sunday, April 13th at Molloy at 12 p.m.
Who, When and Where
Date/Time: Friday, April 12th 3 p.m.
Records: Mercy (14-19, 4-4 ECC), #16 Molloy (22-9, 8-3 ECC)
Location: Uniondale, N.Y.
Date/Time: Saturday, April 13th 12 & 3 p.m.
Records: Mercy (14-19, 4-4 ECC), #16 Molloy (22-9, 8-3 ECC)
Location: Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.
Date/Time: Sunday, April 14th 12 p.m.
Records: Mercy (14-19, 4-4 ECC), #16 Molloy (22-9, 8-3 ECC)
Location: Uniondale, N.Y.
Last Meeting vs. Molloy
Molloy earned a 12-4 win over Mercy on May 11, 2023.
Scouting the Mavericks
Mercy is coming off an 11-6 win over Saint Rose on Tuesday. The Mavericks were led by freshman Nevin Scaperotti who had a career-high four 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 .435 with 11 RBI to go with 12 runs scored. Junior Joseph Gonzalez was named to the ECC Honor Roll on March 18th and is hitting .235 with 18 RBI and a team-high 27 runs. Junior Jaden Caballero has 17 RBI and 21 runs. Caballero recorded his 100th career run scored against Saint Rose on April 9th. Sophomore Zach Ashline has been named to the ECC Honor Roll three times and is batting .280 with a team-high 31 RBI and 11 home runs. The sophomore has tied the single-season school record for home runs. Ashline leads the ECC in home runs and is third in RBI. Sophomore John Nisco has 17 RBI and graduate student Nolan Giblin was named to the ECC Honor Roll last week and is hitting .287 with 14 RBI and 25 runs scored. Junior Gabe Sanders was named to the ECC Honor Roll last week and is hitting a team-high .309 with 19 RBI and a team-high seven doubles. Graduate student Brandon Nolasco is hitting .372 with 14 RBI, three home runs and eight runs and junior Alfred Hoti is hitting .255 with 17 RBI.
The pitching staff is led by freshman Nevin Scaperotti who was named ECC Pitcher of the Week on March 11th, was named to the ECC Honor Roll on March 18th and was tabbed Rookie of the Week last week. The freshman is 3-1 in a team-high 37.1 innings with 28 strikeouts. Graduate student John Gillespie was named to the ECC Honor Roll on February 20th and is 1-3 in 20.1 innings pitched with 12 strikeouts and one save. Junior Jack Sullivan was named to the ECC Honor Roll on February 26th and is 3-1 with a 4.00 ERA in 18.0 innings pitched to begin his career at Mercy with nine 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. Junior Matthew Manzoeillo is 2-1 with a 2.05 ERA in 22.0 innings with 16 strikeouts and senior Ryan Rozinski was named to the ECC Honor Roll last week after pitching five shutout innings to earn the win at Staten Island on March 22nd.
Mercy has dropped eight straight meetings to Molloy. The Mavericks look to win the season series against Molloy for the first time since 2015.
Scouting the Lions
Molloy is coming off a 3-2 loss at Felician on Wednesday. The Lions were picked second in the ECC Preseason Poll after going 35-17 last season. Molloy is currently ranked No. 16 nationally in the latest NCBWA Top 25 Poll and No. 1 in the NCBWA East Region Poll. The Lions are led by Matt Yip who is hitting a team-high .378 with 32 RBI, nine home runs and 41 runs scored. JJ DeVito is hitting .358 with 24 RBI, four home runs, 40 runs and 20 stolen bases and Aidan Larkin has 28 RBI and is hitting .337. ECC Preseason Pitcher of the Year Charlie Cucchiara is 6-0 on the mound with a 3.56 ERA in 48.0 innings with 37 strikeouts. JC Kiss is 5-1 with a 2.83 ERA in 35.0 innings with 27 strikeouts.
Next Game
Mercy plays at Lincoln on Friday, April 19th at 3 p.m.
