ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (Apr. 5, 2016) – The Molloy College baseball team will look to continue its stellar season this week as the Lions play five games in a Wednesday-Sunday span. The maroon and white will first host Nyack on Wednesday (Apr. 6) before squaring off with conference foe Bridgeport in a four-game series with doubleheaders on Friday (Apr. 8) and Sunday (Apr. 10).
About the Lions- Molloy is 17-7 overall in the season with a 3-1 record in East Coast Conference play. The maroon and white swept a Saturday (Apr. 2) doubleheader with Dominican College by defeating the Chargers 4-1 in both contests.
- Senior outfielder
Nicholas Gonchar (Staten Island, N.Y.) returned to the Lions' line-up against Dominican and went 5-for-6 with a double and three runs batted in; Gonchar was named to the East Coast Conference Weekly Honor Roll for his sterling effort in the batter's box over the weekend. The senior leads the team with a .375 batting average.
- As a team, Molloy is hitting .301 with 241 hits in an even 800 at-bats. Senior
Deilyn Guzman (East Hampton, N.Y.) and sophomore
Angelo Navetta (Staten Island, N.Y.) both have hit two home runs while junior
Anthony Galanoudis (Farmingdale, N.Y.) has a team-high 16 RBIs so far this season. Guzman also has three triples, which gives him 11 career three-baggers for the season (tied for the all-time record for most triples in a career).
- As impressive as the hitting has been for the Lions, it's been a tale of the pitching staff that has given credence to the team's successful start to the season. Starting pitchers
Ronald Bauer (Hicksville, N.Y.) and
Bobby Kelly (Mineola, N.Y.) sport unblemished records, with Bauer holding a 4-0 mark and a 0.68 ERA while Kelly is 5-0 with a 1.54 earned-run average. Sophomore
Anthony Catinella (Middle Village, N.Y.) has been equally as impressive in his last two starts, yielding just one run on nine hits while striking out 20 batters over 16 innings.
Concerning the Warriors- After starting the year with just three wins in 18 games, Nyack has won five straight contests over CACC opponents to improve its record to 8-15 overall. The Warriors mashed 18 runs in a shutout of Post University on Saturday (Apr. 2) before sweeping a doubleheader with Caldwell on Tuesday (Apr. 5) in New Jersey.
- Much of the success for Nyack College in the five-game winning streak has come from junior infielder Ruben Correa (Orlando, Fla.). Correa has gone 8-for-14 in the Warriors' last three games with five runs batted in. Fellow junior infielder Jesse Barton (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) has also driven in five RBI over the last five games. Barton has a batting average of .309 for Nyack this season.
- Senior right-hander Erik Bussey (Parker, Colo.) and junior Jose Corrales (Guatemala City, Guatemala) have each accumulated three wins so far to lead Nyack in the pitching rotation. Bussey has also tossed three complete games but Nyack's team earned-run average is above five (5.43).
Scouting the Purple Knights-Joe Tonelli's club was last year's East Coast Conference Championship runners-up (as they were in 2013) and this year's Purple Knights squad has all the makings of a team that could once again compete for an ECC crown. Bridgeport is 13-8-1 on the year with a four-game winning streak and a 6-2 record in conference competition.
- Senior Alnaydo Rodriguez (Bronx, N.Y.) has been a pleasant addition for UB this season at the plate, smacking a team-high five home runs and driving in 23 RBIs while junior Casey McCone (Milford, Conn.) has hit four long balls and driven in 16 runs.
- Junior right-handers Dakota Edwards (Turlock, Calif.) and Matt Van Riper (Elmwood Park, N.J.) are both 3-1 on the year while sophomore Andrew Oswald (St. James, N.Y.) and senior Rob Anderson (Stratford, Conn.) are both 2-1. That makes up 10 of Bridgeport's 13 wins from a solid four-man rotation.
