This weekend was very enjoyable as there was non-stop baseball action in Cary, NC involving several of the top Division-II teams in the northeast. There was also another major storyline emerge as Hofstra’s ace John Rooney and Seamus Brazill combined to no-hit UMBC on Saturday. In lieu of that and their weekend sweep, there’s been a changing of the guards at the top of this week’s Power Rankings–see below.
- Hofstra (Record: 8-2, Stock UP)
Wow, what a month of March it’s been for the Pride, they’ve run their win streak to eight games after their weekend sweep in the UMBC tournament. John Rooney has yet to allow a run through 20.0 IP this season, his stock is soaring for the MLB Draft. After his start, they had the No. 1 team ERA in the nation. That one slightly after Saturday’s game, but they are still top-5 at 1.69. Another great sign for the staff is the dominance of Chris Weiss out of the bullpen. He has struck out 20 batters and has a 1.54 ERA over 11.2 IP. Freshman Brad Camarda has looked really good as well and has added depth behind Rooney and Matt Weissheier. Offensively, Rob Weissheier is leading the team with nine RBI and has formed a dynamic duo in the middle of the order with Vito Friscia, who is off to a red-hot start at .410 with a .590 SLG. They will be traveling to face Fairleigh Dickinson on Tuesday before hosting Albany for three this weekend, as I’m sure all eyes will be on Rooney’s start.
2. St. John’s (Record: 8-4, Stock DOWN)
It’s the first time in the past two years that the Red Storm have really struggled at all. They were swept in Kansas by the Jayhawks this weekend despite mounting a valiant rally in the ninth on Sunday. The starting pitching struggled this weekend including Sean Mooney’s first poor college start since he debuted last February and completely dominated his freshman year. Offensively, the’ve been led by John Valente who has 22 hits through 52 at bats (.423 AVG) with 3 HR and 12 RBI. They will face Iona on Wednesday before hosting UCONN this weekend as they look to get back on track.
3. Fordham (Record: 8-4-1, Stock UP)
Three straight wins this week for the Rams. Reiss Knehr was dominant yesterday, allowing only one-hit in a seven inning 4-1 win over Coppin State. The pitching staff has been strong overall with a 3.83 ERA led by the lights-out combo of Brian Weissert (0.00 ERA through 12.1 IP), Alvin Melendez (0.00 ERA through 7.0 IP) and Kyle Martin (1.69 ERA over 10.2 IP). Ben Greeneberg (1.10 ERA over 16.1 IP) has been great anchoring the rotation. They are averaging 5.15 runs/game, Melendez and Billy Godrick have been great. They will host Wagner mid-week and Cornell in a three-game set this weekend.
4. LIU Post (Record: 8-6, Stock UP)
They bounced back well from Saturday’s bizarre loss which included two runs scoring on a wild pitch in the ninth inning against the surprisingly-resilient Findlay, who won all four game on the weekend. The Pioneers defeated Franklin Pierce and Dominican the next two days. The biggest positive for them has really been their rotation solidifying. Noah Lorenzo performed very well in the loss on Saturday, but James Varela answered the bell in the following game with a 13-K, four-hit gem against Pierce. He has really stepped up, and so has Julien Arcos who fired seven strong innings yesterday to improve to 2-0 on the season. There’s even some room for improvement as Joe Valentino will wind up being a major contributor for them as well. Jimmy Mendyk has joined Rob Andreoli as a .400 hitter after a 4-for-4 yesterday.
5. Adelphi (Record: 5-2-1, Stock UP)
They’ve gotten off to a nice start in Florida, winning three of their first four games against good competition. They still have five games to go. The pitching staff has carried the team, led by their power arms. Max Steele got his first college win the other day, he’s started his career with 6.2 shutout innings. Incredibly, they have seven other pitchers who have yet to allow a run including Kieran McLaughlin, Mark Novello, Josh Rovner, David Butler, Nick Palmerini, Troy Simpson and Mike Demarest. The top two spots in the rotation appear solidified with Ed Baram (0.82 ERA) and Michael Tarpey (2.53 ERA). The offense has struggled a bit but Steve Withers and the emergence of Tyler Becker have been the bright spots.
6. Stony Brook (Record: 7-7, Stock DOWN)
It was a strange week as they won a sound game on Tuesday against Manhattan but then really struggled this weekend and got swept at home by Wagner. All three of their starters (Brian Herrmann, Bret Clarke, Greg Marino) recorded the loss and weren’t able to provide depth. Mike Palazzolo did smack his first college HR on Saturday and the bullpen was strong but outside of that, it was certainly not the weekend they were expecting. They will continue their home stand this week against Sacred Heart and Binghamton.
