(Photo Credit: Rob Edwards/KLC Fotos)
There’s a couple ways to look at this past weekend for the locals but I’m a glass-half-full person so let’s keep it positive. Let’s get to it:
Division-I:
1.St. John’s (Record: 3-3. Trending UP)
2. Stony Brook (Record: 1-6, Trending Neutral)
3. Hofstra (Record: 1-6, Trending Down)
4. Fordham (Record: 1-6, Trending Down)
5. LIU (Record: 1-3, Trending Neutral)
Breaking it down: St. John’s won two of three from Cal, no small task for a northeast team to travel cross-country and win a series on the West Coast in February. That was definitely the most positive storyline from this past weekend for the Division-I schools. Also, Stony Brook traveled to ACC Country and lost three games by a total of five runs. While there are no moral victories in baseball, nobody was expecting them to go against an undefeated ACC opponent and dominate so given the situation, it was very impressive. They actually loaded the bases three times on Friday and came one clutch hit away from tying the game. On Saturday, there were scoreless into the 10th inning before Clemson broke through with a walk-off single. On Sunday, once again they were tied late- 1-1 in the eighth before faltering by the score of 3-1. Despite their record, Fordham gets the edge over LIU for beating them head-to-head last Wednesday but then they weren’t able to play this weekend due to the weather in North Carolina. It was an especially frustrating weekend for Hofstra as they got out to a 3-0 lead on Friday in the first inning but were not able to finish it out. As for individual performances, Anthony D’Onofrio has answered the bell as the No. 3 hitter this season. He already has 14 hits (.519 AVG, .630 SLG) with five walks and only two strikeouts. Austin Gauthier also is red-hot, he has 12 hits (.462 AVG, 2 HR, 6 RBI). Also, Jack Jett has yet to allow a run through 7.2 innings. As for Fordham, they were swept in Arizona but John Stankiewicz has looked great (2 ER through 10 IP) and Jason Coules has 2 HR and .368 AVG through 19 AB.
Division-II:
1.New York Tech (Record: 4-1, Trending UP)
2. Adelphi (Record: 0-0, Trending Neutral)
3. Molloy (Record: 2-2, Trending Neutral)
4. Queens (Record: 2-4, Trending Down)
Breaking it down: Right now, New York Tech looks like a machine. They scored 27 runs on Saturday and followed that up with 17 yesterday. They are scoring runs every way possible, but there was some impressive individual performances from freshman E.J. Exposito, who hit 2 HR and a double yesterday and already has 10 hits, 8 RBI and 8 runs scored through 18 at bats. Andrew Florides had a great weekend – he’s 7-for-14 already and Frankie DiMartino hit a grand slam for his first collegiate hit. The pitching staff has a 2.57 ERA so there’s not much to complain about. Bobby Vath looked lights out in his debut yesterday over 7.2 innings. They come home this week and host powerhouse Southern New Hampshire for four. It should be a great series. Adelphi opens up this weekend against Franklin Pierce this weekend for three. Molloy had a wild weekend as they were on both ends of wild comebacks but ultimately finished with a 2-2 record. The most thrilling moment for them was the walk-off single by Robert Iadanza on Saturday. They scored 36 runs in four games. Sean Hogan was outstanding- going 8-for-15 with a HR and five RBI without striking out. Matt Overton had three hits yesterday and went 7-for-15 with five RBI overall.
Division-III:
1.Farmingdale State (Record: 0-0)
2. United States Merchant Marine Academy (Record: 0-0)
3.Old Westbury (Record: 0-1, Trending Neutral)
4. St. Joseph’s (Record: 0-0)
5. Maritime (Record: 0-0).
Breaking it down: Pretty basic here, Farmingdale is the reigning champs and didn’t lose many starters from last year. They look ready to return to the Conference Finals. It’s really hard to get a sense at the Division-III level in the preseason until I at least see the teams once because there’s so much turnover on a year-to-year basis. Additionally, the presence of Manhattanville in the conference can really throw another wrench in the plans for the local teams because they are serious contenders.
