Vermont Baseball Weekly Release
Live Stats: Tuesday G1 | Tuesday G2
2008 Vermont Statistics
After winning three out of four to start the America East schedule, the Vermont Catamounts return to non-league action with three doubleheaders this week. UVM (8-10, 3-1 America East) takes on longtime rival Siena in a pair on Tuesday starting at 2:00pm before a four-game series this weekend at New Jersey Institute of Technology. The Catamounts and NJIT play twinbills Saturday and Sunday with game one first pitch at noon both days. Vermont last week dropped the series opener at UMBC, 10-9, before running off three straight wins outscoring the Retrievers, 34-11, in the final three contests. The Cats won game one of Saturday's doubleheader at UMBC, 17-5, the most runs the team has scored in 111 games since topping Fairleigh Dickinson, 18-2, on March 18, 2006. In addition to breaking out the bats, the Catamounts had solid starting pitching in each of the three victories. The series in Baltimore was UVM's first action in the northeast this season after it played the first 14 games in Louisiana, Florida and New Mexico. Vermont is 5-9 against foes outside the America East with seven of the losses at Sun Belt power New Orleans and New Mexico of the Mountain West Conference. Following the NJIT series, Vermont returns north and is slated to open at home against Dartmouth on Tuesday, April 15 at 5:30pm. This will be the 102nd season UVM has competed at Historic Centennial Field. CATS DIG THE LONG BALL ... The Catamounts hit just four home runs in their first 14 games to before going yard six times at the friendly confines of The Baseball Factory Field at UMBC. Vermont's ten home runs to start this season also exceed the nine it hit in all 50 games in 2007. Miguel Magrass (West Roxbury, Mass.) and Justin Milo (Edina, Minn.) each hit two homers prior to this weekend and they each went deep in Friday's game at UMBC. Magrass added another in the first inning of game one Saturday, the 14th of his career to move into a tie for fifth all-time at UVM. A trio of Catamounts, senior Kyle Massie (Rutland, Vt.) along with freshmen Matt Duffy (Milton, Mass.) and Corey Moylan (Glenview, Ill.), each hit their first career home runs at UMBC. With a three-run shot in the seventh inning of Saturday's first game, Moylan hit the first pinch hit homer in over four seasons at UVM. KEEPING IT IN THE YARD ... Vermont pitchers gave up only two homers to UMBC, the top hitting team in the America East. Catamount hurlers have allowed only eight home runs in the first 18 games, the fewest allowed in the conference. BOUNCING BACK ... Senior lefty Eric Thompson (Norwich, Conn.) bounced back from a tough outing at New Mexico with a complete-game, five-hitter to top UMBC, 4-2, in Saturday's nightcap. Thompson (2-1) was stronger as the game went along and finished with seven strikeouts in picking up his 10th career win. STREAKING ... Sophomore Ethan Paquette (West Burke, Vt.) hit safely in all four games at UMBC to extend his hitting streak to 12 games. He also drove in six runs and has 16 to start the season. His .373 batting average is a huge improvement over his freshman year when he batted just .235. TURNING IT ON FOR LEAGUE PLAY ... Senior Kyle Massie (Rutland, Vt.) was struggling at the plate hitting just .152 through his first 13 games before turning it on with a 3-for-4 effort Friday in the first America East game. He hit .438 in the UMBC series (7-for-16) with seven RBI including a grand slam in the 17-5 win Saturday and a bases-loaded triple on Sunday. INSIDE THE NUMBERS ... After the team's first five-hit game Sunday, Justin Milo leads the Catamounts with a .377 average, third in America East. He leads the conference with four triples and is tied for the conference lead with 26 runs scored ... In his first start since March 15, Joe Serafin (Tariffville, Conn.) defeated UMBC Saturday to improve to 3-1. His 2.74 ERA is second in America East ... Miguel Magrass is tied for fourth in the conference with 22 RBI ... Mark Micowski (Haddam, Conn.) is sixth in the league, and tops among freshmen, with a .439 on base percentage ... Matt Duffy is hitting .333, the third best average among America East freshmen and his 12 RBI are second. SCOUTING SIENA | WEBSITE ... The Saints head into Tuesday's twinbill with a 7-18 overall record and a 4-5 record in the MAAC after a loss Monday at Manhattan. Top hitters for longtime coach Tony Rossi are Jason Defillipo (.394), Nick Messinger (.348, 15 RBI), Chris Klepps (.337) and Jacob Willis (.333, 5 HR, 14 RBI). First baseman Rick Seltzer homered twice and drove in eight runs in a 16-10 win at Manhattan Sunday. SCOUTING NJIT | WEBSITE ... The Division I Independent Highlanders (2-22) have won just twice in an ambitious early season schedule that included a trip to Maine last weekend. NJIT plays its home games at Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium, a 6,200 state-of-the art minor league ballpark in downtown Newark. Top hitters for the Highlanders are Rob Pietrocola (.314), Ricky Petrosino (.311) and Matt Schlitter (.301, 18 RBI). CAT NIPS ... Mark Micowski leads the team with six stolen bases in seven tries. The freshman leadoff hitter has reached base by a hit or a walk in 16 of the 18 games ... Justin Milo has been impressive in his first season in left field and has five assists ... Keith Rakus (West Suffield, Mass.) picked up his first win of the season Sunday ... Last season's leader in RBI, Kyle Henry (Brattleboro, Vt.) drove in four runs Sunday ... Brad Currier (Essex Jct., Vt.) had a pair of doubles at UMBC ... The Catamounts made just four errors in the last four games after making 11 in the four contests at New Mexico. ON DECK ... After the home opener with Dartmouth slated for Tuesday, April 15, Vermont is at Quinnipiac Wednesday, April 16 before hosting its first conference series. UVM takes on Stony Brook Friday through Sunday, April 18-20 at Centennial Field. Admission is free to all Catamount regular season home games. VERMONT BASEBALL MEDIA GUIDES AVAILABLE ... The 2008 Vermont baseball media guides are now on sale. Media guides are available online at www.uvmathletics.com for $10.00 (includes postage) and will be available at all home games at Centennial Field. Click here to order online. SAVE THE DATE ... At noon prior to the Binghamton game at historic Centennial Field on Sunday, May 4 will be the annual UVM Athletics Fan Appreciation Day to celebrate the entire 2007-08 athletic season. Free food will be available courtesy of Leonardo's Pizza and University Dining Services along with a beverage give-away compliments of Coca Cola. Special games and raffles also will be held along with a special sale of UVM Athletics merchandise. Following the 1:00pm contest with Bearcats, fans are invited to have a catch in the Centennial Field outfield. Admission is free to all Vermont regular season home baseball games. 2008 RALLY AWARDS ... The 2008 Rally Awards will be held Tuesday, May 6 at the Flynn Theatre in downtown Burlington at 7:30pm. The event is free and open to the public. In 2005, the University of Vermont Athletic Department established the Rally Awards, an all-sports celebration highlighting the accomplishments of the student-athletes at UVM. The inaugural Rally Awards took place at the historical Flynn Theatre in downtown Burlington and over 800 people attended the event.