UPDATE: Baseball Series Against NYIT Moved to Saturday-Sunday
LIVE STATS GAME 1 I GAME 2 I GAME 3 I GAME 4
ALBANY, N.Y.— Due to impending weather, this weekend's baseball series between the University at Albany and NYIT has moved to Saturday and Sunday. Saturday's double-header will still have a start time of 1 p.m., while Sunday's games will begin at noon.
SCOUTING UALBANY: (2-4, 0-0 America East)
Head Coach: Jon Mueller (Eckerd College (Fla.) '92), 17th season
THE COACH: Jon Mueller enters his 17th season as head coach of the University at Albany baseball team in 2016. The Stillwater, N.Y. native has had proven success as both a player and coach throughout his career. Mueller is first among UAlbany's career leaders with 328 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: The Great Danes picked up their first two wins of the season, 14-3 and 9-2, in a series victory over North Carolina A&T. Their lone loss came in game two of saturday's double-header, 13-4. The Danes are batting .215 as a team and are led by junior's Kyle Sacks (.294), Connor Powers (.292, 3 home runs) and senior Matt Hinchy (.273, 9 RBI's). Ryan Stinar (1-0, 2.53 ERA) has continued to perform well in his two starts as well as freshman Hunter Torres (0.00 ERA), who has yet to allow a run in his 3.0 innings pitched coming out of the bullpen. UAlbany will start junior's Stephen Woods (1-1), Marcus Failing (0-2), Stinar and Joe Romero (0-1) against the Bears.
LAST WEEK'S TOP PERFORMERS
(Player) Matt Hinchy/Sr./1B/Miller Place, N.Y.
· Went 5-for-13, with eight RBI's last weekend against North Carolina A&T.
· Batted .500 and added a grand slam to the Danes 14-3 rout of the Aggies.
(Pitcher) Stephen Woods/Jr./RHP/Dix Hills, N.Y.
· Pitched 5.0 strong innings in UAlbany's 14-3 win over North Carolina A&T.
· Picked up his season high of 10 k's and allowed only five hits.
(Rookie) Kevin Donati/Fr./INF./Pittsfield, Mass.
· Batted .333 over the weekend against the Aggies.
· Went 2-for-5, with one run scored in the Danes 14-3 win on Saturday.
· Totaled 13 assists on defense over the weekend.
SCOUTING NYIT (2-2)
HEAD COACH: Bob Malvagna (St. John's '79), 4th season
THE COACH: Bob Malvagna is the fifth head coach in NYIT's NCAA Division I baseball program and has a combined record of 30-125. In 2015, he led the Bears to their second double-digit winning season of his tenure, going 14-30. He has previously coached at Adelphi and Nassau Community College as an assistant coach and an assistant coach at Queensborough Community College. He was a member of the St. John's University baseball team from 1975 to 1979, Malvagna played in the 1978 College World Series. Former teammates include Major Leaguers John Franco and Frank Viola.
OVERVIEW: The Bears are coming off a 5-1 loss to America East Conference opponent, Stony Brook on Tuesday. The team opened up to Coppin State Feb. 20-21, winning the series 5-2, 4-10, and 14-7. As a team they are batting .230, but are led by senior outfielder Joe Daru who is hitting a team high .611 with 11 hits and three RBI's. Behind him is James Bulva (.400, six RBI's) and Thomas Joannou (.333, five RBI's). UAlbany will likely be seeing junior RHP Matt Diaz (1-0, 0.00 ERA), senior RHP Dixon Marble (1-0, 3.00), junior Frank Valentino (0-1, 12.27 ERA), and junior LHP David Plotkin (0-0, 11.57 ERA) on the mound for the Bears.
NEXT UP: UAlbany will be on the road once again as they travel to Bowling Green, Kentucky to take on Western Kentucky University for a three game series March 11-13. Game one will begin on Friday at 4 p.m. at Nick Denes Field.
