The College of Staten Island baseball team is coming off of a busy doubleheader, and will get back to action this afternoon in Jersey City, for a single, 9-inning, tangle with New Jersey City University as part of non-conference play. The Dolphins are 21-12 this season, and are coming down the home stretch of the season, as the CUNYAC postseason is just eight days away.
CSI vs. NEW JERSEY CITY UNIVERSITY AT-A-GLANCE
Matchup: CSI (21-12 Overall, 6-0 CUNYAC) vs. New Jersey City University (14-19 Overall, 0-14 NJAC)
Where: Thomas M. Gerrity Athletic Complex, 2039 JFK Boulevard, Jersey City, NJ
First Pitch: 3:30pm
Live Statistics: http://www.sidearmstats.com/njcu/baseball/
Live Video: https://www.youtube.com/user/NJCUGothicKnights/Live
All-Time Series: NJCU leads, 22-16
Last Year’s Result: NJCU won 22-10
Players to Watch (CSI): CSI is paced by the hot-hitting of Nick Delprete, as he leads the squad with a .381 batting average and is tied for the team lead in hits with Joe Palmeri at an even 40 this season. George Kantzian is chasing the single season doubles record at CSI, still two away with 17 this season. He leads the squad with a .525 slugging percentage.
Players to Watch (NJCU): The Gothic Knights have three sluggers batting over .300 this season, led by the hot-hitting Nick Rucingno who is batting .367. Andrew Niech, however, is the hit leader on the squad with 48, and leads the team with 12 extra base hits which include five homeruns. Dmitri Rueger is a speedster who has tallied 20 stolen bases this season. Dan Berardi is batting .312 this season and boasts a .990 fielding percentage.
News and Notes: This storied non-conference series dates back to 1978 between the two sides with NJCO holding a six-game lead in the series. The teams are, however, 6-6 in games played at NJCU home facilities, and the two teams have not met at NJCU since 2009. The Gothic Knights have won seven of the last eight in the series dating back to 2008. Last year, the teams played the highest-scoring game of their respective seasons and in the all-time series in what amounted to a 22-10 NJCU win, in a game that lasted 3:21. NJCU tallied 30 hits and 11 doubles in the game, the most-ever against the Dolphins all-time. This past weekend, CSI’s Joe Palmeri moved to second all-time at CSI in at-bats and runs scored. He is also four doubles shy of the all-time CSI record in that category with 46 all-time. With four more hits, Nick Delprete will become the 21st CSI player to tally 120+ in a career, meanwhile CSI’s Frank Smith is one hit shy of 100 in his career. Over the past two seasons, CSI’s Glenn Glennerster is batting .362, good for 11th all-time at the College now that he has met the minimum threshold. NJCU is ranked 29th in the nation is stolen bases, so look for that to be a key factor in today’s game.
