Although it hasn’t been the walk in the park that 2012 was, the Dowling Golden Lions enter the ECC playoffs with a chance to bring home the conference championship for a consecutive season.
They were awarded the No. 2 seed in the tournament with a 15-9 conference record, and will take on No. 3 ranked Molloy who finished 14-10.
Dowling struggled offensively this year, compiling a .238 cumulative average and 3.3 runs per game which was less than their opponents averaged. They will be relying on Andrew Abreu to return to 2012 form (61 hits, .326 AVG) and JC Brandmeier (.339 AVG, 19 RBI, .934 OPS in 2013) to drive in runs.
The pitching was certainly the lynchpin. They had a team ERA of 2.81, led by their trio of aces Adam Brown (1.47 ERA), Tyler Badamo (2.08 ERA) and Tom Bammann (2.37 ERA).
Badamo is the true ace, having averaged 7 innings per start and 10.27 K/9 IP.
Molloy is cut from the same cloth, having a .257 team average and a 3.13 ERA. They have four starters that had an ERA of 3.32 or lower.
It will be a low-scoring game, but Dowling has the edge considering their team experience and Badamo’s pedigree on the mound.
