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| Whether he's the 1 or the 2,
Brandon Serio is part of Cortland's 1-2 punch. Cortland athletics photo by Darl Zehr Photography |
Follow this regional
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By Pat Coleman
D3sports.com
There are a couple of perennial powers at the top of this regional that could get penciled into Appleton at the beginning of any given season. Add in a second NJAC team and a team from the NESCAC and you have the makings of what could be a great regional.
That is, if you like pitching and defense. Cortland will come at you with a pair of great starting pitchers, while Kean will put runners on the bases and force the defense to make plays. Rutgers-Camden held opponents under four runs per game and Amherst did as well.
Now I'll make everyone working in every press box ever groan when I suggest that these games could be kept on time at this eight-team regional by having such strong pitching.
Newark Regional schedule
Wednesday, May 14
Game 1 - No. 4 Rutgers-Camden (29-11-1) vs. No. 5 Farmingdale
State (25-11), 10 am
Game 2 - No. 1 Cortland State (31-8) vs. No. 8 Castleton State
(29-10), 1:15 pm
Game 3 - No. 3 Amherst (28-9) vs. No. 6 Stevens (26-13), 4:30
pm
Game 4 - No. 2 Kean (31-12) vs. No. 7 Union (26-10-1), 7:45 pm
Thursday, May 15
Game 5 - Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2, 10 am
Game 6 - Loser of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4, 1:15 pm
Game 7 - Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2, 4:30 pm
Game 8 - Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4, 7:45 pm
Friday, May 16
Game 9 - Winner of Game 6 vs. Loser of Game 7, 10 am
Game 10 - Winner of Game 5 vs. Loser of Game 8, 1:15 pm
Game 11 - Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 8, 4:30 pm
Game 12 - Winner of game 9 vs. Winner of Game 10, 7:45 pm
Saturday, May 17
Game 13 - Loser of Game 11 vs. Winner of Game 12, 1 pm
Game 14 - Winner of Game 11 vs. Winner of Game 13, 5 pm
Sunday, May 18
Game 15 - Winner of Game 14 vs Loser of Game 14, 1 pm (if necessary)
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Favorite
Cortland State. It's been an every-other-year prospect for the Red Dragons, who advanced to Appleton in 2008, 2010 and 2012 and a trip to Wisconsin in 2014 would put them right on track. Those teams haven't always had the 1-2 punch in the rotation that this year's Cortland team has, either. Kean, with its offense predicated more on getting on base and putting pressure on the defense, can pose a challenge but can't get called a proper Cinderella.
Most likely to disappoint
Amherst. The Lord Jeffs could use a strong outing from starter John Cook if they get to him. Perhaps one like the game in which he scattered six hits over seven innings in a 4-1 win vs. Wheaton (Mass.), rather than the one vs. Tufts in the NESCAC tournament where he gave up five runs, helped along by his own wild pitch, a couple hit batters and a strikeout/passed ball combination. He was only charged with one earned run but he's given up 23 runs all year, 10 of them unearned. At 4-3 on the season, though, he's had some hard-luck starts.
Cinderella
For fans of the Empire 8 and the host Ithaca Bombers, you have to think about rooting for the conference's only tournament rep: Stevens. If you didn't like the fact that the NCAA awarded the CUNYAC an automatic bid when it had only six baseball-playing members, perhaps you see this as appropriate. But if you're an Empire 8 fan and saw your reps sit on the board on Selection Sunday without hearing their names called, you might be too bitter to consider it. The Ducks' great pitching numbers (2.25 ERA) were slightly inflated by all their CUNYAC opponents, but not by much. They posted a 2.48 ERA in 12 games against E8 foes (not even including Houghton, which was lost to weather) and a 1.80 ERA in four games vs. the NJAC.
Players to Watch
P Brandon McClain, Cortland State (9-1, 1.49 ERA, 72.1 IP, 46 H,
15 BB, 60 K, .185 opp. avg.)
P Brandon Serio, Cortland State (8-2, 1.60 ERA, 73 IP, 54 H, 16 BB,
63 K, .206 opp. avg.)
1B Salvatore Taormin, Kean (.341 avg., 25 R, 56 H, 12 2B, 1 HR, 12
BB, 21 K)
U Mike Odenwaelder, Amherst (.406, 33 R, 7 2B, 6 HR, 30 RBI, .633
Slg., 2-1, 1.74 ERA, 20.2 IP, 21 K)
1B Joe Borowski, Castleton State (.347 avg,. 22 R, 35 H, 15 2B, 3
HR, 28 BB, 17 K)
3B Nicholas Sieber, Stevens (.326, 21 R, 43 H, 3 HR, 29 RBI, 11
SB, .382 OBA)
1B Connor Hall, Rutgers-Camden (.340, 31 R, 51 H, 12 2B, 7 HR, 45
RBI, .573 slg., 39 K)
P Alex Weingarten, Farmingdale State (5-1, 1.60 ERA, 50.2 IP, 42 H,
16 BB, 34 K)
P Mike Daley, Kean (7-1, 3.36 ERA, 67 IP, 69 H, 27 BB, 35 K, opp.
avg. .272)
OF Sam Caruso, Union (.419, 30 R, 49 H, 8 2B, 21 RBI,21 BB, 9 K,
.514 OBA, 20-24 SB)
P John Cook, Amherst (4-3, 2.10 ERA, 55.2 IP, 5 BB, 62 K)
P Jayson Yano, Stevens (4-3, 1.40 ERA, 45 IP, 38 H, 9 BB, 44
K)