GAME DAY INFORMATION
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DATE: Feb. 16-19, 2024
TIME (Stetson Only):
Friday: 6:30 PM
Saturday: 5:30 PM
Monday: 1:30 PM |
LOCATION: Melching Field at Conrad Park
DeLand, Fla. |
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GAME DAY LINK
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LIVE STATS
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THE LEAD
After splitting their season-opener 2-2 with the West Virginia Mountaineers last weekend, the Hatters will return to action at Melching Field at Conrad Park, starting on Friday as they will host Maine at 6:30 PM. Stetson will then host Army on Saturday at 5:30 PM before finishing the weekend with Fordham at 1:30 PM on Sunday. The weekend will be a round robin tournament so Army will play Fordham at 12 PM on Friday. Fordham will then play Maine on Saturday at 12 PM and then Maine and Army will play at 9 AM on Sunday. While there will be no stream during the weekend, fans will be able to follow along with all the action on live stats at GoHatters.com.
INSIDE THE SERIES
The Hatters are no stranger to any of the three teams, holding a combined 17-7 record against them. The Hatters have faced Maine most frequently, entering with a 13-5 record after winning their last five against the Black Bears. They last met on March 15, 2022 when the Hatters cruised to a 12-1 victory.
Stetson and the Black Knights are knotted up at 2-2 as Army took the last meeting 8-4 on March 14, 2018.
Finally, Stetson has faced the Fordham Rams twice in their history as the Hatters won both games including a dominant 15-3 win back on March 15, 2017.
SCOUTING THE HATTERS (2-2, 0-0 ASUN)
Steve Trimper's squad began the season on a strong note with a series split against the Mountaineers, including a pair of walk-off hits courtesy of
Lorenzo Meola and
Jayden Hylton.
The Hatters comeback from a 4-1 deficit in their season-opener against West Virginia as a pair of homeruns from Hylton and
Evan Griffis knotted the game at 4, although the Hatters would drop the game 6-4.
The Hatters then took a 2-1 lead in the four-game series as Meola delivered a walkoff homerun in the bottom of the 11th to win game two before Hylton drove a double off the right field wall in the bottom of the ninth in game three. The Hatters would drop their fourth game 5-7 to earn the series split.
The team got their first look at freshman outfielder
Kyle Jones who impressed in his debut with five hits in ten at-bats, two of which were doubles.
Newcomer
Gio Cueto has fit right in with the Hatters, batting .333 with a pair of doubles and a team-leading five RBIs.
Yohann Dessureault had himself a Monday during the double-header as the junior middle infielder combined for three hits in seven at-bats including two doubles and a homerun while driving in three runs.
Aric McAtee went 5.0 innings in his first start at Melching Field and struck out five batters in the no-decision.
Dylan Jacobs and
Daniel Paret were also solid in their first starts of the season, despite both being no-decisions as well, as the latter registered a 3.00 ERA across six innings.
SCOUTING THE BLACK BEARS (0-3, 0-0 AMERICA EAST)
The Black Bears enter the weekend still searching for a win after dropping their first three games of the year to the Pittsburgh Panthers.
Prior to the season, Maine was selected to finish second in the America East Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll following their first America East Championship since 2011 during the 2023 season. Maine received 31 points in the vote, including two first place votes.
Maine had one of the most balanced and dominate teams in recent years in the America East as they earned their second-straight Regular Season Title. In conference games, Maine led the America East in home runs (37), RBI's (181), Slugging %(.507), on base % (.410), ERA (4.49), wins (19), fewest losses (5), fewest home runs allowed (14), lowest batting average against (.229) and they committed the second fewest errors (22) in the conference.
The 2023 Black Bears hit the most home runs in a single season in program history as they hit 87 home runs.
Maine returned a majority of their team from a season ago, including the America East Player of the Year, New England Player of the Year and Third Team All-American Jeremiah Jenkins. Jenkins slashed .365/.492/.756 in 2023. He hit the second-most home runs in a single season for a Black Bear with 21. The junior has one hit entering this weekend and it was a homerun on opening day.
Along with Jenkins, Maine returns three other All-Conference First Team Members in Connor Goodman (DH), Colin Fitzgerald (SP) and Gianni Gambardella, who was named a Freshmen All-American. Noah Lewis was named to the Second Team All-Conference in 2023 and Luc Lavigueur was named to the All-Rookie Team.
SCOUTING THE BLACK KNIGHTS (2-2, 0-0 PATRIOT)
The Black Knights spent their first weekend of the series in Cary, N.C. where they left with an even 2-2 record, picking up a pair of wins over Monmouth but dropping both games to Penn State.
The Army West Point baseball team was picked to win the Patriot League for the sixth straight year, swept preseason major awards, and had five named to the preseason all-league team.
Sam Ruta took home Patriot League Preseason Player of the Year. In his career the senior is hitting .320 with 134 RBI and an on base percentage of .419. Last season he was second in the Patriot League in triples (5) and runs scored (53). He also belted 13 homers which was good for third in the league. A big game performer, he drove in seven RBI against Bucknell in the two game sweep of Bucknell in the Patriot League Championship. Ruta has already collected nine hits in 18 at-bats this season and has connected on three homeruns while driving in nine runs.
Mike Ruggieri was named Patriot League Preseason Pitcher of the Year after a dominant season last year. In Patriot League play he went 6-0 to the tune of a 2.55 ERA. He was named to the All-Patriot League First Team and ABCA/Rawlings Northeast All-Region First Team in 2023.
Derek Berg won Patriot League Preseason Defender of the Year. The catcher threw out .432 percent of base runners attempting to steal and boasted a .991 fielding percentage. He guided the Black Knights pitching staff to a league-best ERA of 4.41 and 451 strikeouts which also was tops in the league.
Matthew Ronnebaum and Braden Golinski were named to the Preseason All-Patriot League Team. Ronnebaum threw 81.1 innings last season, striking out 82 for a 7-4 record. Golinski had the best batting average on the team amongst the returners last season at .323. His OPS of .993 is also the best amongst returners.
SCOUTING THE RAMS (0-3, 0-0 A10)
The Rams are also seeking there first win over the season after dropping their first three games of the year in the Tar Heel State. They began the year with a loss to #1 Wake Forest before falling to Akron and Illinois.
In the A10 Preseason Coaches' Poll, Fordham was selected to finish 10th with 38 points but four Rams were honored by the league with preseason honors.
Senior second baseman Zach Selinger
was named First Team All-Atlantic 10, while graduate student Peter DeMaria garnered Second Team All-Atlantic 10 honors at designated hitter. Selinger earned Atlantic 10 Player of the Week honors twice last season. He set career-highs in almost every offensive category, including batting average (.326), runs scored (33), hits (58), home runs (12), RBI (40), on-base percentage (.415), slugging percentage (.552), and walks (18).
DeMaria was also selected to the league's Academic All-Conference team in a vote of the league's sports information directors. DeMaria is the first Ram since Joseph Runco in 2014 to earn both All-Conference and Academic All-Conference honors in the same season. DeMaria tied for the team lead in RBI with 41, while hitting .292 with 36 runs scored, nine doubles, and 11 home runs.
Additionally, freshmen Daniel Bucciero and Tommy McAndrews earned spots on the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team. It is the first time since 2018 that Fordham has had multiple All-Rookie Team selections. Bucciero led the squad in hits (63), triples (3), walks (31), and on-base percentage (.421), while being second in batting average (.317), runs (43), doubles (12), and stolen bases (9).
Steve Luttazi currently leads the offense with two homeruns in three hits while driving in a team-leading five runs.
NEXT UP
Stetson will continue their extended home stand when they host the Florida Gators at 6:30 PM on Tuesday, Feb. 27 at Melching Field at Conrad Park for DeLand PD Night. All the action in that game will be streamed to ESPN+ with live stats available on GoHatters.com.
