Baseball Opens 2015 Campaign At Caravelle Resort's Baseball At The Beach

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Escaping the northern chill, the University at Albany baseball team treks south to Myrtle Beach, S.C. this weekend, competing in the Caravelle Resort's Baseball at the Beach Tournament. Due to inclement weather, all games on Friday have been cancelled and the original schedule has been adjusted accordingly. The Great Danes will now take on NC State and Coastal Carolina on Saturday, and Georgia Tech, the reining ACC champion, on Sunday.

SCOUTING UALBANY (0-0, 0-0 America East)
2014 Record: 12-33, 7-17 America East
2015 America East Preseason Poll: 7th/7
Head Coach: Jon Mueller (Eckerd College (Fla.) '92), 16th season

THE COACH: Jon Mueller enters his 16th season as the head coach of the University at Albany baseball program in 2015. The Stillwater, N.Y. native has had proven success as both a player and coach throughout his career. Mueller ranks first among UAlbany's career leaders with 314 coaching victories, and was named the America East Coach of the Year in 2004. He also led the Danes to the program's first America East Conference tournament championship title and NCAA appearance in 2007. Mueller has produced dozens of all-conference standouts and has had six players selected in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft under his direction.

OVERVIEW: Confined to indoor facilities for all of preseason, the Great Danes will get outdoors for the first time on opening weekend. Featuring a deep bullpen, UAlbany returns 12 pitchers from last season, including projected starters LHP Brendan Ryan (3-2, 3.28 ERA), RHP Cameron Sorgie (2-3, 14.11 ERA), and RHP Matt Gallup (1-4, 7.75 ERA). Behind them, the Great Danes will rely on six new position players to record outs in the field, as freshman Shawn Blake and junior Matt Hinchy will share first, junior transfers Karson Canaday and Trevor DeMerrit will make up the middle infield, and freshman John Banes will man third. In the outfield, senior Alex Lushkevich will serve as the veteran of the group in left field, while newcomers Will Miller and Kenny Hayden will rotate in center, and first-year sophomore Eric Mueller will cover right. Behind the plate, the Danes will look to mainstay Craig Lepre for leadership, while second-team all-conference selection Evan Harasta will fill the designated hitter role, batting .314 last season with a league-best .484 on-base percentage. 

HINCHY, LEPRE NAMED CAPTAINS
Head Coach Jon Mueller and the UAlbany baseball program appointed Matt Hinchy and Craig Lepre as the team captains for the 2015 season. Hinchy, a junior infielder from Miller Place, N.Y., has overcome a series of injuries in his career so far, limiting his action on the field last spring. In 2014, Hinchy played and started the first 14 games of the season, batting .255 with 12 hits, five runs, and five runs batted in. In his freshman season, Hinchy was named to the America East All-Rookie Team helping the Great Danes to an appearance in the America East Conference Tournament, holding a .268 batting average on the season and .279 mark in conference play. Lepre, a senior catcher from Lansdale, Pa., has been a mainstay behind the plate for UAlbany since his freshman season. Playing in 120 games with 102 starts, Lepre boasts a .988 career fielding percentage with 577 putouts. Last season, he batted .273 with 28 RBIs, 10 runs, and seven doubles.

“THE GOAL REMAINS THE SAME”
The goal remains the same for UAlbany year in and year out -- to finish the regular season as one of the top four teams in the conference standings, advance to the America East Championship Tournament, win the tournament title, and earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament. The America East Championship Tournament will take place May 21-23 in Lowell, Mass. for the third straight season.

SCOUTING NC STATE (2-0, 0-0 ACC)
2014 Record: 32-23, 13-17 ACC
2015 ACC Poll: 4th/7 (Atlantic Division)
Head Coach: Elliott Avent (VCU '83), 19th season

THE COACH: In 18 years as head baseball coach at NC State, Elliott Avent has taken the Wolfpack to the NCAA Tournament in 13 of the last 18 seasons, and 10 of the last 12. Avent captured both ACC and National Coach of the Year honors in 2003, and is the winningest coach in NC State baseball history with 683 career victories. The 2014 NC State baseball squad saw seven players taken in the MLB First-Year Player Draft, tied for the third-most all-time at NC State.

OVERVIEW: The Wolfpack enters the weekend with a 2-0 record after overcoming Villanova, 14-5, and Davidson, 8-3. NC State is batting .392 as a team led by Preston Palmeiro (.875, 5 RBI) and Logan Ratledge (.625, 2 RBI). Defensively, the pitching staff owns a 3.50 ERA, as starters Cory Wilder (1-0, 0.00 ERA) and Evan Mendoza (1-0, 1.80 ERA) were credited with the opening victories.

SCOUTING COASTAL CAROLINA (2-2, 0-0 Big South)
2014 Record: 24-33, 13-13 Big South
2015 Big South Preseason Poll: 3rd/11
Head Coach: Gary Gilmore (Coastal Carolina '80), 20^th season

THE COACH: Coastal Carolina head coach Gary Gilmore, who is entering his 20th season at his alma mater, has seen the Coastal program continually rise in the world of college baseball to a national power and the 26th-year head coach ranks among the NCAA's all-time top 50 in wins with 1,006. Under his guidance Coastal has made 13 NCAA berths, twice advancing to a Super Regional, and featured numerous draft picks - including 13 players drafted within the top 10 rounds over the last seven years.

OVERVIEW: The Chanticleers enter this weekend's tournament with an even 2-2 mark. Coastal overcame Old Dominion (4-0) on opening day before falling to Western Kentucky (9-4). Most recently, they come off a split to Canisius, topping the Griffs, 13-3, before falling 14-3. As a team, Coastal is batting .250, led by Conor Owings (.333, 6 RBI), Anthony Marks (.333, 4 R), and Zach Remillard (.333, 3 RBI). On the mound, the pitching staff is carrying a collective 4.25 ERA, as Austin Kerr (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 8 Ks) and Alex Cunningham (1-0, 0.00 ERA) have each picked up a win without allowing a run.

SCOUTING GEORGIA TECH (3-1, 0-0 ACC)
2014 Record: 37-27, 14-16 ACC -- NCAA Oxford Regional
2015 ACC Preseason Poll: 4th/7 (Coastal Division)
Head Coach: Danny Hall (Miami, Ohio '77), 28^th season

THE COACH: Danny Hall is the all-time winningest baseball coach in program history with 894 victories at the school. He has led Tech to the NCAA tournament on 19 occasions and guided the Yellow Jackets to the College World Series in 1994, 2002 and 2006, the only head coach in the program's storied history to reach Omaha. The 2015 season represents Hall's 22nd at Georgia Tech and his 28th as a college head coach. He stands 12th among active coaches in number of victories (1,102).

OVERVIEW: Georgia Tech enters the weekend with a 3-1 record after overcoming St. John's, 17-3, in the season-opener. They then split with Fordham (9-4, L / 7-5, W) before topping Georgia Southern, 7-4, on Tuesday. As a team, the Yellow Jackets boast a .341 batting average, led by Keenan Innis (.750), Brandon Gold (.600, 4 RBI), and Kel Johnson (.474, 9 RBI). On the hill, the staff owns a 4.50 ERA with 11 arms getting in on the action. Projected starter versus UAlbany, Devin Stanton, has a 0-0 record with a 5.79 ERA in 4.2 innings of work. Last season, Georgia Tech finished fifth in the ACC, but won the tournament championship to advance to the NCAA Oxford Regional.

ON DECK
Weather permitting, the Great Danes will compete in the Bob Hannah Invitational, hosted by the University of Delaware. UAlbany will play two games each against the hosting Blue Hens and Delaware State Feb. 27-March 1. Delaware State won the MEAC North championship in 2014.