BASEBALL vs. Iowa, Marshall and Villanova
WHEN: Friday, Feb. 15 vs. Iowa 11 a.m. | Saturday, Feb. 16 vs. Marshall 2 p.m. | Sunday, Feb. 17 vs. Villanova 11 a.m.
WHERE: Osceola County Stadium | Kissimmee, Fla.
LIVE STATS
KISSIMMEE, Fla. – The George Mason baseball team will open the 2019 season with three games in the Sunshine State Classic, facing Iowa, Marshall and Villanova at Osceola County Stadium in Kissimmee, Fla.
It's Opening Day for the Patriots when they face Iowa on Friday, Feb. 15 at 11 a.m. Mason will then play Marshall on Saturday at 2 p.m. and close out the trip against Villanova on Sunday at 11 a.m.
Mason head coach
Bill Brown begins his 38th season at the helm of the Patriots. He has guided the team to the Atlantic 10 Tournament three times in the last five seasons.
The Patriots finished the 2018 season with a 29-27 overall record, including a mark of 16-8 against Atlantic 10 opponents. Mason was 15-7 at home, 10-12 on the road and 4-8 in games played at a neutral site last season.
Mason qualified for the 2018 A-10 Championship Tournament as the second seed and advanced to championship Saturday.
The Patriots have been picked to finish fifth in the A-10 this season in a preseason poll conducted by the league's 13 head coaches.
The Patriots begin the 2019 season with one graduate student, five seniors, seven juniors, nine sophomores and 10 freshmen.
Mason returns six starting position players and 10 pitchers from last year's roster, including two weekend starters, senior left-hander
Brian Marconi and junior right-hander
Jared DiCesare.
DiCesare, who was 6-5 with a 3.33 ERA, finished the 2018 season tied for first on the team in wins (6) and starts (10) and was third in appearances (16). He is slated to make his first Opening Day start against the Hawkeyes.
In five Atlantic 10 starts, DiCesare posted a 4-0 record with a 1.23 ERA. He tied for second in the league in complete games (2) and ranked 10th in innings pitched (83.2).
Marconi had a 5-1 record with a 4.70 ERA in 12 appearances in 2018. He was second on the team in wins (5) and starts (11), while he ranked fourth on the club in innings pitched (59.1).
Also returning to the Mason pitching staff are juniors
Zach Skrtich and
Jonathan Ostroff, sophomores
Thomas Bradley,
Austin Cabone,
Ryan Miles,
James Price and
Michael Yuille and redshirt freshman
Mason O'Mara.
Mason added depth on the mound, with seven of the 14 newcomers on this year's roster joining the pitching staff.
Pitchers
James Beasley,
Stuart Barrett,
Patrick Halligan,
Hugh O'Hara,
Mason Posey,
Nate Young and
Nick Zegna will look to make their Mason debuts.
Behind the plate, Mason juniors
Logan Driscoll and
Bailey Klein will be joined by junior
Devon Adams and freshman
Jack Fitzgerald.
Last season Driscoll finished the season with a .342 average with four home runs and 37 RBI. He was named A-10 All-Conference First Team, selected All-ECAC Division I Baseball First Team, VaSID All-State and he was a semifinalist for the Johnny Bench Award.
Driscoll finished fourth in the A-10 in average (.342), third in hits (76), tied for ninth in runs scored (43) and ranked 19th in RBI (37).
Seniors
Alejandro Aponte,
Greg Popatak II,
Tim Quinn and
Ryan Tassone, along with sophomore
Daniel Brooks are the anchors for Mason's veteran infield group. They will be joined by graduate student
Mitch Lindheim, sophomore
Aaron Yurko and freshman
Jared Lyons.
Popatak batted .282 with five home runs and 22 RBI in 43 games played (all starts), while Aponte hit .269 and hit his first career home run and was third on the team with 31 RBI.
In the outfield, the Patriots will have redshirt senior
Brady Acker in left and sophomore
Scott Morgan in right. Sophomore
Cam Reckling and freshman
Connor Baine will also patrol the outfield for the Patriots.
Last season, Acker hit .282 with four home runs and 20 RBI in 34 games played (31 starts).
Mason fell to The Citadel, 3-0, on Opening Day last season in the Charleston Crab House Challenge at Joseph Riley Jr. Park in Charleston, S.C. Patriots started
Zach Mort scattered two hits and struck out four over 7.0 scoreless innings of work.
SCOUTING REPORT
- Iowa finished the 2018 season with a 33-20 overall record, including a mark of 13-0 against Big Ten opponents. The Hawkeyes were 20-6 at home, 9-10 on the road and 4-4 in neutral site games.
The Hawkeyes are picked to finish fifth in the Big Ten by Perfect Game and sixth by both D1 Baseball and Baseball America.
Seniors Cole McDonald and Chris Whelan, along with sophomore Jack Dreyer were selected to the Big Ten Preseason Honors list.
McDonald will make the first Friday start of his career against the Patriots. He went 3-2 with a 3.23 ERA in 11 starts last season and surrendered two earned runs or fewer eight times.
Dreyer went 5-2 with a 3.69 ERA and 42 strikeouts in 14 appearances (four starts) last season.
Whelan batted .308 with four home runs and 10 RBI and was selected All-Big Ten Third Team. He started 38 games, 27 as the designated hitter.
Last season, the Iowa pitching staff set a new school record with 499 strikeouts in 53 games (9.5 per nine innings).
- Marshall finished the 2018 season with a 19-30 overall record, including a mark of 7-21 against Conference USA opponents. The Thundering Herd went 6-16 at home and 13-14 on the road last season.
Senior catcher Rey Pastrana led the team in average (.355), hits (71), home runs (13), double (14), RBI (50) and runs scored (37) last season.
Pastrana, a native of Miami, Fla., was named to the Conference USA preseason All-League Team and to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association All-Preseason Third Team.
Senior infielder Shane Hanon hit .324 with three home runs and 16 RBI last season, while senior outfielder Tucker Linder batted .287 with five home runs and was second on the club with 28 RBI.
- Villanova finished the 2018 season with a 9-39 overall record, including a mark of 1-17 against Big East opponents. The Wildcats went 2-21 at home, 6-13 on the road and 1-5 in neutral site games.
The Wildcats return seven starters and two weekend starters from a year ago.
Senior right-hander Jonathan Rosero enters the season as the Friday starter. He was 1-8 with a 6.15 ERA in 16 appearances (11 starts) last season.
Sophomore right-hander Jimmy Kingsburg will take the mound on Saturdays. He was 0-8 with a 5.89 ERA in 13 appearances (11 starts) during the 2018 campaign.
Sophomore first baseman Ryan Toohers led Villanova in average (.298), hits (53), home runs (5) and RBI (31) his rookie season.
STRIKE ZONE
Tom Gorzelanny enters his first season as pitching coach for Iowa. He joins the Hawkeyes following a 12-year Major League career, which included a two-year stint with the Washington Nationals.
The left-hander also played for Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Detroit, Cleveland and the Chicago Cubs.
Gorzelanny, who was drafted in the second round of the 2003 draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates. He finished his career with a 50-53 record and a 4.40 ERA in 314 appearances (121 starts).
PROBABLE STARTERS
Friday: RHP
Jared DiCesare vs. RHP Cole McDonald
Saturday: RHP
Nick Zegna vs. TBD
Sunday: LHP
Brian Marconi vs. RHP Gordon Graceffo
