Friday, February 21
Davidson, N.C.
6:30 p.m.
Davidson College
vs
Fairleigh Dickinson
Juniors David Daniels (L) and Ryan Lowe (17)
Photo by: DavidsonPhotos.com
'Cats Host FDU, Mt. St. Mary's Beginning Friday
2/20/2014 4:42:00 PM | Baseball
Live Video | Live Stats | Twitter
- Wilson Field will host six games amongst the four teams. Fairleigh Dickinson and Mount St. Mary's will not face each other as they are both members of the Northeast Conference. To make that schedule accomodation, Lehigh will not face Davidson, and FDU will not face Mount St. Mary's.
SCOUTING MOUNT ST. MARY'S
The Mountaineers are coming off a tough 2013 season that saw the team finish 11-37 overall and 6-26 in Northeast Conference play to finish last behind FDU. They are picked to finish sixth this season. Jay Knight is coming off a breakout season in 2013. The senior outfielder hit .345 last year while leading the team with 44 runs scored and 32 stolen bases. Fifth-year seniors Karl Lamont and Vincent Molesky look to lead the Mount's pitching staff this year. Lamont went 2-7 with a 5.02 ERA and a pair of complete games for the Mount in 2012. He missed last season due to injury. Molesky was 2-3 with a 4.26 ERA and one complete game for the Mountaineers last year.
BUILDING MOMENTUM: Last season's team finished with its most wins in conference in eight seasons, despite a completely revamped starting rotation from 2012 and 19 different pitchers seeing game action, including six freshmen. In total, Davidson is returning over 82 percent of last season's innings pitched.
POWER OUTAGE: The offense has two big holes to fill, as 19 of the team's 39 home runs will not return due to the graduations of four-year starting infielders Michael Zeblo and Andrew Barna. However, the 2013 'Cats improved the team batting average by 20 points from 2012, and returns its top-three in the category: team captains Forrest Brandt and Ryan Lowe, as well as, Nathan Becker.
WILSON FIELD IMPROVEMENTS: A new scoreboard is in place in right field, as well as an all-new fence across the entire outfield. New padding behind home plate, in between the dugouts, has also been added.
GRIDIRON TO DIAMOND: Senior Jonathan Carkhuff became Davidson's all-time passing leader as a four-year starter for the football team, but is now concluding his Wildcat career as a relief pitcher. He has not played competitive baseball since high school, where he was an all-area player.
SO LONG SOCON: It will be Davidson's final season in the now 10-team Southern Conference, as the Wildcats will move to the Atlantic 10 for the 2015 season. All 10 teams will be included in the conference championship tournament in Charleston, but the top-six in the regular season standings will avoid a play-in round.
UMPIRES BEWARE: Head coach Dick Cooke was appointed chair of the NCAA Baseball Rules committee in the summer of 2012. Cooke's term on the rules committee began that July and he will serve through Sept. 2015. The chair appointment is year-to-year. As chair, Cooke is responsible for leading the committee's deliberations at the annual meeting and serving as the committee's spokesperson. The committee is charged with protecting the integrity of the game and making sure student-athlete safety is paramount.
Catching the Action
Admission to Wilson Field is free. Live video and live stats will be available for all three games. Twitter updates will be available from @DavidsonWildcat.
LEADING OFF
- This will be Davidson's opening home series after a three-game series against Buffalo was snowed out last weekend. Fairleigh Dickinson, Mount St. Mary's and Lehigh are all opening their 2014 seasons.- Wilson Field will host six games amongst the four teams. Fairleigh Dickinson and Mount St. Mary's will not face each other as they are both members of the Northeast Conference. To make that schedule accomodation, Lehigh will not face Davidson, and FDU will not face Mount St. Mary's.
|
Friday
3 p.m. - Lehigh vs. Mt. St. Mary's6:30 p.m. - FDU vs. Davidson |
Saturday
1:00 p.m. - FDU vs. Lehigh4:30 p.m. - Mt. St. Mary's vs. Davidson |
Sunday
10:00 a.m. - Lehigh vs. FDU1:00 p.m. - Mt. St. Mary's vs. Davidson |
THE SERIES
VS. FDU: This is just the second meeting between Davidson and FDU. The first meeting was in 2012, a 7-3 victory for the Wildcats at Wilson Field. A three-run fourth inning capped by a two-out, two-run home run by Jake Berman '12 powered Davidson to 7-3 victory. Fairleigh Dickinson had 11 hits to the Wildcats' six, but Davidson's (3-2) pitchers were able to work out of trouble and strand 16 Knights on the bases. RHP Danny Mooney earned the win, allowing three runs (one earned) on seven hits and three walks, with two strikeouts, in 5.0 innings.
VS. MOUNT. ST. MARY'S: Davidson is 10-1 all-time against The Mount, losing only the very first meeting in 2000. The Wildcats scored a record 17 runs in the first inning the last time the teams met in 2010, as they won, 29-7. The previous all-time best was 14 runs in an inning, also against Mount St. Mary's on Feb. 17, 2001 in the second inning. Davidson was just a run off the all-time runs record (30 against N.C. A&T on March 17, 1992), but tied the record for hits in an inning (9) and hit batsmen in a game (8). The Wildcats batted around twice in the opening frame, with the top three Davidson batters each getting three at-bats. Davidson took an 8-0 lead and chased starter Vincent Molesky (Saturday's scheduled starter) before he recorded an out.
VS. MOUNT. ST. MARY'S: Davidson is 10-1 all-time against The Mount, losing only the very first meeting in 2000. The Wildcats scored a record 17 runs in the first inning the last time the teams met in 2010, as they won, 29-7. The previous all-time best was 14 runs in an inning, also against Mount St. Mary's on Feb. 17, 2001 in the second inning. Davidson was just a run off the all-time runs record (30 against N.C. A&T on March 17, 1992), but tied the record for hits in an inning (9) and hit batsmen in a game (8). The Wildcats batted around twice in the opening frame, with the top three Davidson batters each getting three at-bats. Davidson took an 8-0 lead and chased starter Vincent Molesky (Saturday's scheduled starter) before he recorded an out.
SCOUTING FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON
FDU, which went 12-26 overall and 7-25 in conference play in 2013, was picked to finish seventh out of seven teams in the NEC in the coaches' 2014 preseason poll. Last season, the Knights' roster featured 21 underclassmen and they finished eighth out of nine teams.SCOUTING MOUNT ST. MARY'S
The Mountaineers are coming off a tough 2013 season that saw the team finish 11-37 overall and 6-26 in Northeast Conference play to finish last behind FDU. They are picked to finish sixth this season. Jay Knight is coming off a breakout season in 2013. The senior outfielder hit .345 last year while leading the team with 44 runs scored and 32 stolen bases. Fifth-year seniors Karl Lamont and Vincent Molesky look to lead the Mount's pitching staff this year. Lamont went 2-7 with a 5.02 ERA and a pair of complete games for the Mount in 2012. He missed last season due to injury. Molesky was 2-3 with a 4.26 ERA and one complete game for the Mountaineers last year.
THE PAST WEEK
Wake Forest forced extra innings in the bottom of the ninth inning and scored the game-deciding run on a hit-by-pitch in the 12th to defeat Davidson, 4-3, in Wake Forest Baseball Park, in the season opener. Davidson had led since the third inning, but Wake Forest rallied from a 3-1 deficit, scoring a run in the sixth inning and taking advantage of Davidson's third error of the game in the ninth inning. With the bases loaded in the 12th, Kevin Conway, was hit by a pitch from RHP Michael Goldberg (0-1), bringing home the game-winning run. It was Davidson's first season opener to go to extra innings since 1930, and the longest ever, besting an 11-inning game in 1924. Ben Arkin (2-for-5), making just his second career start and first at second base, had given Davidson a 2-1 lead in the third inning with his first career home run. Due to the cancellation of its opening series against Buffalo and soggy conditions at Wilson Field, Davidson opened its season on the road for the first time since 2005, which was also at Wake Forest (6-3 Wildcat win).
NOTES
LEADOFF LEADOFF: Senior Forrest Brandt batted leadoff for the first time in his career at Wake Forest. He led the team last season with 11 stolen bases.BUILDING MOMENTUM: Last season's team finished with its most wins in conference in eight seasons, despite a completely revamped starting rotation from 2012 and 19 different pitchers seeing game action, including six freshmen. In total, Davidson is returning over 82 percent of last season's innings pitched.
POWER OUTAGE: The offense has two big holes to fill, as 19 of the team's 39 home runs will not return due to the graduations of four-year starting infielders Michael Zeblo and Andrew Barna. However, the 2013 'Cats improved the team batting average by 20 points from 2012, and returns its top-three in the category: team captains Forrest Brandt and Ryan Lowe, as well as, Nathan Becker.
WILSON FIELD IMPROVEMENTS: A new scoreboard is in place in right field, as well as an all-new fence across the entire outfield. New padding behind home plate, in between the dugouts, has also been added.
GRIDIRON TO DIAMOND: Senior Jonathan Carkhuff became Davidson's all-time passing leader as a four-year starter for the football team, but is now concluding his Wildcat career as a relief pitcher. He has not played competitive baseball since high school, where he was an all-area player.
SO LONG SOCON: It will be Davidson's final season in the now 10-team Southern Conference, as the Wildcats will move to the Atlantic 10 for the 2015 season. All 10 teams will be included in the conference championship tournament in Charleston, but the top-six in the regular season standings will avoid a play-in round.
UMPIRES BEWARE: Head coach Dick Cooke was appointed chair of the NCAA Baseball Rules committee in the summer of 2012. Cooke's term on the rules committee began that July and he will serve through Sept. 2015. The chair appointment is year-to-year. As chair, Cooke is responsible for leading the committee's deliberations at the annual meeting and serving as the committee's spokesperson. The committee is charged with protecting the integrity of the game and making sure student-athlete safety is paramount.
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