(Photo Credit: USC-Upstate Baseball)
While it was certainly not the best showing for Division-I baseball teams from our region, there’s two silver linings
- Sunday was much better than Friday or Saturday.
- Northeast teams are always behind their southeast and southwest counterparts in February.
There’s simply no substitute for going outside and getting live at bats all winter. Granted, the weather this February was better than any since 2012 but it still is different than being outside everyday in Florida. In any event, here’s how the local Division-I teams stack up after one week. We are going to start Division-II next week and Division-III the following week. Please note that this ranking is based on how the teams played this past weekend not based on track records of past success.
- St. John’s (Record: 1-2)
Analysis: The Johnnies grab the top spot by default after improving in each game. They were crushed, 10-1, on Friday before nearly completing a miraculous comeback after trailing 7-2 (but losing 7-5) on Saturday night. They salvaged the weekend with an impressive 11-1 victory over No. 19 Georgia Tech on Sunday. According to the team’s official website, they have now claimed a victory against a ranked opponent in each of the past six seasons. It was also the first victory of the Mike Hampton era. The big takeaway from the weekend was freshman SS Jake Lazzaro. The 2019 graduate of Oceanside started the latter two games of the series, notching three hits in both games and filling up the stat sheet in the process. Yesterday, he added a double, RBI, walk and a run scored.
Next up they will face Cal on Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Berkeley.
2. LIU (Record: 1-2)
Analysis: It took until the third inning of their third game, but their bats finally woke up on Sunday. Trailing 2-0, Chris Wasson got them on the board with an RBI double down the left field line. Anthony Warneke (3-for-4, RBI) drove him home with an RBI single and a sac fly gave them the 3-2 lead. They wound up surrendering the lead, but with the score tied 4-4 in the seventh inning, crushed a game-winning solo HR to give the Sharks the lead for good. Rob Griswold came on and recorded the three inning save to notch their first win of the young season.
They will take the short trip to the Bronx on Wednesday to face Fordham before traveling to North Carolina on Friday.
3. Hofstra (Record: 1-3)
Analysis: You have to give them credit for fighting back from a 6-1 deficit on getaway day and putting up an eight-spot in the sixth inning of Sunday’s game. On the flip side, they did surrender their 9-6 lead in the sixth inning which really could’ve given them a ton of confidence coming home with a weekend split against a tough Big-10 opponent in Purdue. In a strange coincidence, a pitcher named Bo Hofstra recorded two saves against them this weekend. On the bright side, they did win 13-6 on Saturday. Grad student Lucas Hall (Seaford 2015) recorded the win and Anthony D’Onofrio crushed four hits and drove in three out of the three-spot in the lineup. Speaking of D’Onofrio, he had ELEVEN hits this weekend and is hitting a cool .688 with 1.625 OPS after the first weekend.
They will face La Salle next weekend in a three-game set.
4. Stony Brook (Record: 1-3)
Analysis: They actually lost games by the score of 4-3, so they were very close to flipping their record to 3-1, but in any event, they came away with one victory and it was on Saturday. It was just how you would draw it up with seven strong innings from Nick DeGennaro and two shutout innings from senior closer Brandon Bonanno. With the scored tied in the eighth inning, freshman Ellis Schwartz ripped the go-ahead RBI double to Brett Paulsen. Evan Giordano had the best weekend offensively, compiling seven hits and scoring three runs. Jared Milch also had a great showing, allowing 0 ER over 5 innings with two strikeouts.
They will face a great challenge this weekend as they travel to Clemson, SC to take on an ACC powerhouse for three games.
5. Fordham (Record: 0-3)
Analysis: Simply put, it was a forgettable weekend in Miami for the reigning A-10 Champs. They allowed 46 runs in three games to Florida International. Jake Baker did have four hits and Jason Coules crushed his first home run of the season. The silver lining is that they did overcome an 0-3 start last season and still recorded a program-record 38 wins.
They will host LIU on Wednesday before traveling to Arizona this weekend for two against Cal. State Northridge and two against Grand Canyon.
