ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (Apr. 26, 2016) – The Molloy College baseball team has two major conference series left to go in the regular season but those are weekend sets; the Lions would do well to not overlook the opposition on Wednesday (Apr. 27). Molloy will head into New Jersey for a 7 p.m. showcase with CACC-leading Felician University in Lyndhurst, N.J.
About the Lions
- The maroon and white are 26-13 overall this season with 10 games left to play, meaning that the Lions have clinched the program's first winning season since 2011. While that is a nice accomplishment, the 10-6 record in East Coast Conference play and the fourth overall ranking in the NCBWA East Region poll are significant milestones that Molloy will continue to protect over the course of the last two weeks.
- Junior pitchers
Ronald Bauer (Hicksville, N.Y.) and
Kevin Hiss (Merrick, N.Y.) both received recognition from the East Coast Conference on Monday (Apr. 25) for their stellar performances on the mound over the past week. Bauer threw eight shutout innings of two-hit baseball to improve his record to 7-0 and was named ECC Pitcher of the Week while Hiss tossed 11 scoreless innings in two starts to earn a space on the Weekly Honor Roll.
- Sophomore
Angelo Navetta (Staten Island, N.Y.) has continued to be the Lions' best performer at the plate; Navetta boasts a team-best .389 batting average with 25 runs batted in and a .521 slugging percentage. Only junior
Anthony Alberghina (Staten Island, N.Y.) has more RBIs (28), but Navetta has the team's lead in hits with 56 as well as a .454 on-base percentage.
- One week ago, senior
Deilyn Guzman (East Hampton, N.Y.) went 3-for-4 and hit his fourth triple of the season in Molloy's 14-5 win over Post University. The triple was significant because it was Guzman's 12
th career three-base hit, passing Class of 2002 graduate Michael Scarinci for the most triples all-time in Molloy baseball history.
Concerning the Golden Falcons
- Felician is 24-17 this season (including 1-0 against Molloy with a win back in February at the Ripken Experience in Myrtle Beach, S.C.) and 12-4 in CACC competition. The Golden Falcons ranked tenth in Monday's NCBWA East Region poll, but Felician has not fared well against other schools currently ranked in that ledger (4-11 versus SNHU, Franklin Pierce, Merrimack, Stonehill and Molloy).
- Felician packs a considerable pop at the dish with 18 home runs hit so far this season. The aptly-named sophomore catcher Matt Diesel (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) has four of those round-trippers to go along with 34 runs batted in and a .353 batting average. Junior Andrew LaMura (Brick, N.J.) is also hitting .353 with five home runs and 40 RBIs for the Golden Falcons this season.
- Because it is a midweek game, the Lions might miss facing Felician pitchers Jason Polgano (Bronx, N.Y.) and Matt Blandino (Bristol, Conn.); this may be a blessing for the maroon and white considering that both of those pitchers struck out 10 batters in their last starts against Chestnut Hill on Saturday (Apr. 23).
