This Week: Notre Dame College will hit the road this weekend for a doubleheader at Concord University on Sunday March 27. NDC will continue on the road on Monday March 28 with a doubleheader at Glenville State University. Both twin-bills are slated for a 1:00 p.m. first pitch.
Records: Notre Dame has a record of 6-13 (2-2 MEC) on the season. GSU sits at 14-4 (2-2 MEC), while CU is currently 12-5-1 (3-1 MEC).
Coaches Corner: Len Barker is in his 11
th season at the helm of the NDC baseball program for the 2022 season. Barker has a career record of 206-256. James Mullins heads the Glenville State program in his ninth season, holding a career record of 126-220. Kevin Garrett is the head coach of Concord University in his 22
nd season. Garrett is 492-368-1 while leading the Mountain Lions.
Rankings: None of these teams are ranked according to the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association (NCBWA) Poll.
Series History: Notre Dame is 14-4 all-time when facing Glenville State, dating back to their first meeting in 2014. The Falcons are 9-14 all-time when squaring up against the CU Mountain Lions since their first meeting in 2012.
Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame College began Mountain East Conference play last week with a pair of doubleheaders against Charleston and West Virginia State. NDC fell twice on Sunday to UC 4-1 and 9-2, but bounced back with resilience on Monday to sweep WVSU 7-2 and 6-3.
Kyle Espineli enjoyed a career day at the plate on Monday, totaling five hits on the day, including going 3-for-3 at the dish during game two.
Ben Ross deposited his team-leading sixth home run of the season during game one against the Yellow Jackets to tally his 17
th career bomb. Ross is now NDC program leader in career home runs despite playing in only 70 total games. Moreover, the shortstop is only three doubles away from also becoming the program leader in career doubles.
The aforementioned Espineli and Ross headline this Notre Dame offense as they have been red hot through the first 19 games. Fresh off his career day, Espineli leads the Falcons in batting average (.373) and on base percentage (.411), while being second in OPS (.940) and slugging percentage (.529). Ross, the All-American, has picked up right where he left off last season, by contributing a team-leading 25 hits, 16 runs scored, nine doubles, two triples, six home runs, 18 RBIs, 56 total bases, three stolen bases, a 1.130 OPS and a .757 slugging percentage. Ross also checks in with a .338 batting average and a .373 on base percentage, both second on the team.
Also leading the charge on offense has been
Nick Farrell who adds .276 hitting from the plate (third on the team), with three home runs and 14 RBIs (both second on the team).
Alec Mendoza rounds out the four NDC hitters to record ten or more hits on the season with his .257 batting average (fourth on the team) and 12 RBIs (third on the team).
Austin Mora,
Kyle Farrell,
Calvin Andringa,
Alex Dicke and
Hayden Parker complete the NDC starting rotation as each player has started at least two contests. Mora, the Falcon ace, is the workhorse for Notre Dame by starting a team-high six contests, totaling 35.1 innings pitched. The redshirt senior has a 4.48 ERA, .229 opponent batting average to go with 34 strikeouts and 18 walks. Dicke has been a hybrid arm for head coach
Len Barker, pitching both in the starting slot and out of the pen. Dicke has made two starts and five total appearances for Notre Dame, amassing a team-best 2.30 ERA and .148 opponent batting average.
Jesse Clark,
Devin Fish and
Aaron Miller have been the Falcons main arms out of the bullpen as all three pitchers lead the team in appearances at seven apiece. Miller works as the NDC closer with a team-high three saves to go along with a 3.27 ERA, .220 opponent batting average, ten punchouts and four walks.
As a team, Notre Dame is slashing .246/.323/.380 (BA/OBP/SLG) with 28 doubles, six triples, 13 home runs and 84 runs scored. On the mound, NDC pitching has accumulated a 7.22 ERA, .303 opponent batting average to go along with 122 strikeouts and 94 walks allowed.
Noting the Pioneers: Glenville State split their opening four games of Mountain East Conference play last week by going 1-1 (0-2 and 10-0) against West Liberty on Sunday Mar. 20 and 1-1 (8-10 and 26-9) against Wheeling on Monday Mar. 21.
The Pioneers boast six players that hit north of .300 at the plate, led by Fabian Escalante's team-high .375 batting average. Mitch Lohr (.359), Ryan Rodriguez (.351), Darius Barton (.333), Matthew Mangum (.325) and Zach Morris (.319) have also carried the load for GSU on offense. Glenville State generates their power from Calen Kampes who has a team-leading four home runs, 23 RBIs, 27 total bases, 1.105 OPS and .659 slugging percentage. Kampes also posts a respectable .293 batting average.
Adam Riggleman and Diego Tamariz are the Pioneers killer one-two starting pitching combo, flashing a 9-1 combined record. The two aces lead the team in starts with five a piece and innings pitched at 30.1 and 27.1 respectively. Riggleman is GSU's number one option as he posts a 1.48 ERA, .178 opponent batting average, 39 strikeouts and ten walks. Tamariz checks in with a 1.65 ERA, .190 opponent batting average, 35 strikeouts and 11 walks.
Glenville State is slashing .289/.432/.431 on the season with 30 doubles, one triple, 14 home runs and 159 runs scored. On the bump, the Pioneers surrender a mere 2.82 ERA, .216 opponent batting average, to go with 155 strikeouts and 56 walks allowed.
Noting the Mountain Lions: Concord enjoyed a 4-1 stretch last week with a win on Tuesday Mar. 15 over Emory & Henry (6-3), followed by four games of MEC play. The Mountain Lions split with Wheeling on Sunday Mar. 20 (1-16 and 7-5 in extras) and capped off their week via a sweep of West Liberty on Monday Mar. 21 (4-2 and 8-0).
Concord features a potent offense with seven players hitting above the .300 mark, including nine players with more than ten hits and six players with more than ten RBIs on the season. Zack Saryeldin is the CU backbone on offense with his team-leading .421 batting average, 32 hits, nine doubles, four home runs, 53 total bases, and a .697 slugging percentage. Kyle Keenan (.393), Chris Satcher (.393), Michael Dupont (.361), Joey Duffer (.340), MJ Hunter (.333) and Richard Ortiz (.318) are the other Mountain Lions who have seen the ball well this season.
Eddie Blake, Andrew Neff and Jacob Nester are Concord's main starting rotation as each pitcher has started five contests and accumulated at least 20 innings pitched. However, the trio all show individual ERAs north of 5.50 and opponent batting averages above .270. Rylee Nicholas is a quality arm out of the pen for CU posting a team-best 0.98 ERA this season over eight appearances and 18.1 innings pitched. Nicholas allows opponents to hit .188, while striking out 16 and walking eight.
As a whole, Concord has been hot this season at the plate, slashing .337/.415/.476 with 34 doubles, one triple, 15 home runs and 142 runs scored. However, the Mountain Lions lack in the pitching department as a team, allowing a 6.32 ERA, .280 opponent batting average, while fanning 131 and walking 55.
