ALBANY, N.Y. – The University at Albany baseball team will travel to the nation's capital for a three-game set against Georgetown.
Series Info
Game 1- Friday, March 15
Capital One Park – Tysons, Va.
11:00 am E.T.
Live Stats |
Stream
Game 2- Saturday, March 16
Capital One Park – Tysons, Va.
2:00 pm E.T.
Live Stats |
Stream
Game 3- Sunday, March 17
Capital One Park – Tysons, Va.
1:00 pm E.T.
Live Stats |
Steam
Probable Starters – UAlbany
Game 1:
Owen Birkman – RHP | Sr. | 6-0 | 210 | 6.00 ERA
Game 2:
Connor Eisenmann – RHP | Sr. | 6-0 | 155 | 10.80 ERA
Game 3: TBD
Probable Starters – Georgetown
Game 1: Matthew Sapienza - RHP | Jr. | 6-29 | 225 | 18.00 ERA
Game 2: Andrew Williams - LHP | Jr. | 6-2 | 205 | 1.15 ERA
Game 3: Everett Catlett - LHP | Sr. | 6-7 | 230 | 5.57 ERA
Leading the Pack
- Starting in all 11 games this season, Will Binder leads the offense with a .270 batting average, a .378 on-base percentage, and five RBIs.
- Jared Toby has brought power to the lineup, owning a team-best .463 slugging percentage and five extra-base hits, including two home runs.
- In addition to patrolling center field, Luke Filippi has started the season with 10 hits.
- Owen Birkman has been the anchor of the Great Dane rotation with a 6.00 ERA and a team-high 11 strikeouts. Ryan Pittz has been effective out of the pen, owning a 3.68 ERA through 7.1 innings pitched.
- The pitching staff has amassed a 12.02 ERA over 82.1 innings, with an opposing batting average of .344.
Season Review
- UAlbany started the season going 0-11 in non-conference play.
- Opening their season against #9 Tennessee (2.23-25), the Great Danes narrowly fell 5-8 in game one before being defeated 6-21 and 0-12.
- Traveling to George Washington (3.1-3), UAlbany lost the first two games with the Revolutionaries completing the sweep, winning 3-5 in game three.
- The Great Danes fell in all four games at Purdue (3.9-10).
- Most recently, UAlbany fell in heartbreaking fashion to Army (3.13)
- Will Binder, Jared Toby, and Luke Filippi lead the team with 10 hits the season.
- Toby leads the team with five extra-base hits, including three doubles and two home runs.
- Three players have tallied five RBIs- Luke Myers, Toby, and Binder.
- Owen Birkman leads the pitching with a 6.00 ERA and 11 strikeouts in 15 innings.
Heating Up
- Will Binder's bat was on fire last weekend at Purdue. Binder hit .615 over the four-game series with two runs, a walk, and a hit-by-pitch.
- Cooper Loyal batted .300 over the weekend. After earning his first collegiate hit, Loyal earned two RBIs while not making an error in 17 chances at shortstop.
- Luke Myers tallied four hits, three walks, two runs, and an RBI in last weekend's series at Purdue. He carried this into the midweek matchup against Army, tallying two hits and four RBIs.
- Connor Eisenmann shoved after coming out of the pen against the Boilermakers. Throwing 5.1 innings with five strikeouts while only allowing one earned run, two hits, and three walks.
Scouting Georgetown
The Hoyas started their season going 10-6 after finishing last season with a 30-27 record.
- Beginning their season at the MLB Desert Invitational, Georgetown fell to GCU (2.16), Cal (2.17), and #24 Kansas State.
- After besting Navy (2.21) in a midweek matchup, the Hoyas took two games in a three-game series against Virginia Military Institute (2.23-25).
- Following a loss to Maryland, Georgetown swept Fairleigh Dickinson in three contests.
- Since being defeated by #1 Wake Forest, the Hoyas have enjoyed a four-game winning streak, besting George Washington (3.12), Delaware (3.13), and Cornell (3.10) in a doubleheader.
- Christian Ficca has fueled the Georgetown offense with a team-high .406 batting average and 23 RBIs.
- Jake Hyde has slugged five home runs and holds a .638 slugging percentage.
- In 15.2 innings pitched, Andrew Williams has been dominant, striking out 15 batters while only allowing two earned runs.
Leading the League
The Great Danes have leaders in three of the hitting categories, seven of the pitching categories, and three of the fielding categories.
- Owen Birkman
- T4th – 7 walks allowed
- 9th – 6.00 ERA
- T9th – 10 earned runs allowed
- 9th – 13 runs allowed
- 11th – 19 hits allowed
- 13th – .302 opponent batting average
- 14th – 11 strikeouts
- Connor Eisenmann
- T5th – 16 hits allowed
- T10th – 15 runs allowed
- T11th – 3 batters struck out looking
- 14th – .327 opposing batting average
- T13th – 14 earned runs allowed
- 8th – 9 walks allowed
- Jared Toby
- T8th – 2 stolen bases
- T9th – 2 home runs
- T11th – .463 slugging percentage
- Levi McAllister
- T3rd – 3 runners caught stealing
- Will Binder
- Ryan Ferremi
2024 Captains
Will Binder,
Connor Eisenmann, and
Cregg Scherrer will serve as the captains for the Great Danes during the 2024 season. Binder enters his third season with UAlbany after starting his collegiate career at LaSalle. Since joining the Great Danes, he has started in 89 games and has a .325 batting average. Eisenmann returns to UAlbany for his fourth season. Through 37 appearances for the Great Danes, he has recorded a 5.93 ERA with 121 strikeouts and a .254 batting average against. Scherrer is a redshirt senior from Skaneateles, N.Y., entering his fifth season with the team. Appearing in 44 games, including 34 starts, Scherrer has struck out 195 batters and owns a 5.73 ERA.
Fresh Faces
- The Great Danes have had multiple freshmen find success to open the season.
- Thomas McElwee has started the year with a .400 batting average while also tallying one runner caught stealing.
- John Vitucci has gone 5-15 (.333) at the plate while also scoring four runs.
- Levi McAllister has been a wall behind the plate, throwing out six players.
- Cooper Loyal has recorded four hits and a pair of RBIs while registering a .971 fielding percentage at shortstop.
- In 17 at-bats, Anthony Scarabino has a double, three RBIs, and three runs.
- In 5.1 innings pitched, Luke Boule has struck out five batters.
2024 America East Preseason Poll
- UAlbany was picked to finish seventh in the 2024 America East Preseason Poll, earning eight points.
- The Bearcats were picked to finish first in the conference with 35 points, including five first-place votes.
- Maine, the defending champions, followed closely behind with 31 points and two first-place votes.
- UMBC (26) placed third, NJIT (19) fourth, and Bryant (18) fifth.
- UMass Lowell (10) and UAlbany rounded out the poll.
America East Standings
Bryant, NJIT, Binghamton, and UMass Lowell have all tallied a conference-high five wins. Bryant holds the advantage with only eight losses compared to NJIT's and UMass Lowell's 10 and Binghamton's nine. UMBC and Maine both own two wins with the Golden Retrievers owning the advantage with one less loss. UAlbany is still looking for their first win of the season.
America East Contests This Week
- Thursday
- UMass Lowell at Penn State, 5:30 pm
- Friday
- UAlbany at Georgetown, 11:00 am
- NJIT at Binghamton, 3:00 pm
- Maine at FAU, 6:30 pm
- Saturday
- Bryant at Brown, 11:30 am
- NJIT at Binghamton, 2:00 pm
- UAlbany at Georgetown, 2:00 pm
- UMass Lowell at Penn State, 2:00 pm
- Yale at UMBC, 3:00 pm
- Bryant at Brown, 3:00 pm
- Maine at FAU, 4:00 pm
- Yale at UMBC, 6:00 pm
- Sunday
- Maine at FAU, 12:00 pm
- NJIT at Binghamton, 1:00 pm
- Brown at Bryant, 1:00 pm
- UAlbany at Georgetown, 1:00 pm
- Yale at UMBC, 1:00 pm
- UMass Lowell at Penn State, 1:00 pm
- Tuesday
- Sacred Heart at Bryant, 3:00 pm
- UMBC at UMES, 3:00 pm
- Binghamton at Cornell, 3:00 pm
- Wednesday
- Delaware State at UMBC, 3:00 pm
- NJIT at Seton Hall, 4:00 pm
- Thomas at Maine, 4:00 pm
- UMass Lowell at Holy Cross, 5:00 pm
Up Next: The Great Danes will begin conference play next weekend with a road series against UMass Lowell starting Friday at 3 pm.
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