Although it may be hard to believe, we made it through another off-season.
At least for Division-I college baseball fans. That’s right, across the country over 100 teams will kick off their season tonight. The northeast schools get to escape to the warm climate of the south to get their games in under the lights.
In terms of the local programs, there will be plenty of action. Stony Brook, Hofstra, St. John’s, Fordham and LIU – who will play their first game since the merger of the two schools.
Here’s a quick rundown:
Stony Brook is down in San Marcos, TX where they will kick off a four-game set against Texas State. The Seawolves are the reigning America East Champs. Last time they played was in the Baton Rouge Regional in which they had the misfortune of having to face No. 1 LSU and No. 2 Arizona State. They sent their top two hitters, Mike Wilson and Nick Grande, to pro ball but they return a strong offense led by Chris Hamilton. Jared Milch will get the ball in the opener tonight. First pitch is scheduled for 7 pm.
Hofstra is in Sanford, FL to open up their season against Purdue. They will play a single game at 3 pm today, a double header beginning at 1 pm tomorrow and a single game on Sunday at noon. They finished last season with a record of 18-31-1, but they figure to be much-improved this season by virtue of fielding a more experienced team. Starter Jack Jett certainly has the makings of a true ace. They will face La Salle next weekend.
Fordham is in Miami, FL to open up their season as reigning Atlantic-10 Champs against Florida International. First pitch is at 7 pm. They will continue their series at 6 pm tomorrow and conclude their series on Sunday with a 12 pm start. Their weekend rotation is set up to feature Matt Mikulski tonight, John Stankiewicz on Saturday and Joseph Quintal. Fordham was picked to finish second in the preseason poll. FIU was picked to finish sixth in the Conference USA poll. They finished last season with a record of 23-32. Fordham set a program record and led the nation with 178 steals last season. They set a program-record with 38 wins, 3.26 ERA and .222 opponent average.
St. John’s will kick off the Mike Hampton era tonight in The Atlanta Challenge. They will face Kennesaw State at 4 pm, Georgia State at 2 pm tomorrow and No. 19 Georgia Tech at 1 pm on Sunday. The Red Storm went 31-23 last season. They will field a young team and have more Long Island players than anytime in recent years with Chris Stefl (Floral Park), Nick Schwartz (Massapequa), Brian Morrell (Shoreham-Wading River), Tim McHugh (Commack), Jake Lazzaro (Oceanside) and Paul Orbon (Chaminade).
LIU will kick off a new-era of their own today at the University of South Carolina – Upstate. First pitch will be 3 pm. They will continue their series tomorrow at 2 pm and Sunday at 1 pm. They were picked to finish fifth in the preseason NEC coaches poll. They will face Fordham on Wednesday of next week. The opening weekend rotation is expected to be Jackson Svete, Joshua Loeschorn and Alec Huertas.
