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| Photo Credit: Stonehill College Athletics |
Dowling will take on No. 2 seed Stonehill College today at 3 pm on the campus of Franklin Pierce University.
They were defeated in their conference tournament last week by No. 1 nationally ranked Franklin Pierce but received a bid for their impressive 33-13-1 record. This is their first appearance in the regionals since 2010, while Dowling qualified last season.
Where are they from?
Stonehill is located in North Easton, MA. They play in the Northeast-10 conference, which is really a 15-team conference.
They finished in third place in the northeast division of the NE-10, just behind Southern New Hampshire and light years behind Franklin Pierce, who is 46-2. Fourty-six wins and two losses. Two.
How do they match up with Dowling talent-wise?
They have four regulars hitting over .330–Chris Hoyt, Brian Campbell, Dan Fratus and Eric Schneider. Hoyt leads the way with a .347/.383/.407 slash line. He has smacked 74 hits, and stolen 33 bases in 37 tries. He has scored 45 runs.
Senior Dan Fratus has driven in a team-high 37 runs, smacked 21 doubles and drawn 32 walks, so he is extremely dangerous as well.
Beyond those four, the lineup is not deep. They do have one true power threat–Dan Hocking who has smacked five home runs but has struck out an incredible 70 times in 162 at bats.
The team average is .271 with a .355 OBP. Dowling boasts a .293 AVG with a .382 OBP.
Pitching wise, they are strong. They have a team ERA of 3.11. They have some standout numbers.
Most impressive, freshman Michael Young has thrown 46 innings this year over four starts and 10 relief appearances. Over that span he has allowed only three ER (0.59 ERA), allowed only 21 hits and compiled a 46:8 K:BB ratio. Outrageous numbers. He will be on the bump today.
Senior Armand Rugel has started nine games, thrown 70.0 IP, compiled a record of 7-1 and held the opposition only 59 hits and an ERA of 2.44. He has only struck out 50 batters and walked 27, far from elite numbers.
Neal Horan has won four games for the Skyhawks. He has thrown 61.2 IP, compiled an ERA of 2.34 and struck out 61 batters. He has allowed only 43 hits.
Who Wins?
Anything can happen in one game, but I think Dowling will come out with fire after getting bounced quickly in their conference tournament as the No. 1 seed. Coach Tom Caputo knows how to get his guys ready for battle and he was able to lead them to one game away from the CWS last season. I think they find a way to win today behind an offensive outburst–9-4.
