Baseball Hosts Mount St. Mary's For First Northeast Conference Series Of The Season

Quinnipiac University (0-12, 0-0 NEC) vs
Mount St. Mary's University (4-11, 0-0 NEC )
March 26-28, 2010
Quinnipiac Baseball Field - Hamden, Conn.

NEC Opening Weekend
The Quinnipiac University baseball team will host Mount St. Mary's University for its first Northeast Conference match-up of the 2010 season. Quinnipiac enters the game searching for its first win of the season at 0-12, while Mount St. Mary's is currently 4-11 overall. The two teams will face-off on the Quinnipiac Baseball Field in a four-game series scheduled to run from Friday, March 26 through Sunday, March 28. The Bobcats and The Mount will play a nine-inning game on Friday at 3 p.m., followed by a pair of seven-inning games on Saturday at 12 p.m. and a single, nine-inning game on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Multimedia
Quinnipiac's four-game, Northeast Conference series against Mount St. Mary's can be heard live on WQAQ.com or by accessing the audio link on the Official Website of Quinnipiac Athletics, www.QuinnipiacBobcats.com. Live stats will also be available. ­­

All-Time Against The Mount
The Bobcats have won 19 of the 34 meetings between the two teams dating back to their first match-up in 1999. Mount St. Mary's has won eight of the last 10 meetings between the two teams, including a four-game sweep in Emmitsburg last season and three of four in 2008. In 16 meetings all-time at the Quinnipiac Baseball Field, the Bobcats are 11-5 against the Mount.

Scouting The Mount
Mount St. Mary's is currently 4-11 overall with losses in their last six games. As a team, the Mount is hitting .254 (120-473)in 15 games and feature one player hitting over .300. Jacob Darr leads Mount St. Mary's in batting average (.333), hits (15) and runs scored (eight). Darr's .464 on-base percentage ranks sixth in the NEC. Kyle Kane's team-high 12 RBI's rank third in the NEC at 0.92 per game. On the mound, Kent Worthington has started four games for the Mount, posting a 0-1 mark with a team-best 4.19 ERA among all starters. Vincent Molesky is 2-2 with a team-high 15 strikeouts in 16 innings pitched. Molesky is also one of six players in the Northeast Conference with two wins to date. Mike Matta has appeared in a team-high eight games, giving up four earned runs in 14 1/3 innings pitched for a bullpen-best 2.51 ERA. Matta also has an NEC-best three saves on the season.

Rain, Rain - Go Away
Tuesday's schedule nine-inning, non-conference match-up against the United States Military Academy in West Point, N.Y. was cancelled due to inclement weather. The game has not been re-scheduled.

Nice Week Nisson
In three games played, sophomore catcher Kyle Nisson (Wallingford, Conn./Lyman Hall) batted .500 (6-12), while leading the Bobcats with four RBI. Nisson was 3-for-5 with an RBI against Fairfield on Thursday, March 18. On Saturday, March 20, Nisson was 1-for-3 with a two-run double, and a sacrifice fly against Holy Cross. Against the Crusaders on Sunday, March 21, Nisson was 2-for-4 with a stolen base, while also throwing out three runners.

Good Start To The Year Too
For the year, Nisson is hitting at a team-high .400 clip (14-18) with a double and seven RBI in 11 games played. Nisson's batting average is good for third in the NEC, while his .447 on-base percentage ranks ninth.

Far(ina) and Away
Junior Ben Farina (Waterford, Conn./Waterford) hit .455 (5-11) in three games last week, while leading the team with four runs scored as he crossed the plate in all three games. Nisson was 3-for-4 with a homerun against Fairfield on Wednesday and 2-for-3 with two runs scored against Holy Cross on Sunday. Farina also slugged .727 while also posting a .571 on-base percentage, both team highs, for a team-best 1.298 on-base-plus-slugging percentage.

Longball Info
Farina's homerun against Fairfield was his first of the year, tenth of his career, and second for the Bobcats this year.

Benny And The Jets
Farina leads the Bobcats for the year in hits (18), runs scored (8), slugging percentage (.489) and on-base percentage (.455). He currently ranks fifth in the NEC in batting average (.383), and fourth in hits at 1.50 per game. Farina's ranks eighth in the NEC in on-base percentage and ninth in slugging percentage.

Let's Go For A Walk
Quinnipiac's 10 bases-on-balls against North Carolina State on March 7 are the most among all Northeast Conference teams in a single game this season.

Gutsy Performance Wasted
Mike Oskandy (Bethel, Conn./Bethel) took the hard-luck loss against Fairfield on Thursday. The fifth-year start lasted nine innings, scattering four hits while striking out six. Oskandy pitched out of jams in the 7th and 8th innings before an error allowed the tying run to cross the plate with two outs in the 9th. Oskandy's performance against Fairfield gives the senior hurler the longest pitching performance (9.0 innings) this season among all NEC teams.

Moving Up The Ladder
Farina is currently the only Bobcat with 100 career hits, while his 121 rank 36th all-time at Quinnipiac and 23rd at the Division I level.

The Mick and Joe?
Mickey Amanti (Waterford, Conn./Waterford) and Joe Poletsky (Riverside, Conn./Greenwich) entered the week at 91 career hits apiece, leaving them nine from becoming the 52nd and 53rd players in Quinnipiac history to reach the 100-hit mark. Both currently sit at 93 hits apiece after Amanti had two hits In Saturday's 8-7 loss to Holy Cross while Poletsky had a hit in each game.

Lefty-Lefty Nullified
Brian Monack and Gabe Guerino, the only every-day lefties in the Bobcats' lineup, are hitting a combined .389 (7-19) against lefthanded pitching this year. As a team, the Bobcats are hitting at a .316 clip with 25 hits in 79 at-bats against southpaws.

Ducks On The Pond
With runners on base, Kyle Nisson leads the team with a .538 (7-13) average.

Doing His Job
Brian Monack is hitting at a team-high .471 (8-17) average with runners in scoring position.

Doing It With Two
Of Quinnipiac's 38 runs-batted-in, 15 have come with two outs. As a team, Quinnipiac is hitting .282 (40-142) with two outs, while Kyle Nisson has recorded a hit in 6-of-10 at-bats in that situation.