After a mid-week rainout, the College of Staten Island baseball team will be back in action for a big conference doubleheader against Lehman College on the road this afternoon in the Bronx. The Lightning took two of three from the Dolphins a year ago and today’s doubleheader will go a long way to determining playoff positioning.
CSI vs. LEHMAN COLLEGE
Matchup: College of Staten Island (13-14) vs. Lehman College (14-19)
Where: South Field – 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, Bronx, NY
All-Time Series: CSI leads, 77-27
Last Meeting: May 1, 2017 – Lehman won, 9-8
Players to Watch (CSI): The Dolphins recently dropped their four-game win streak this week, but several hitters are still doing damage for CSI at the plate. Anthony DiMarco leads the way with a .328 average, having spread out 20 hits in 21 games. Nicholas Meola is next on the docket with an average of .322, leading the team with 29 hits, 12 doubles, home runs with two, and RBI with 17. Jordan Wilson is batting .321 while catcher Sean Becker is the final batter to hit over .300 with a .310 average, placing 26 hits with nine going for extra bases. CSI’s Thomas Musso and Christian Capellan are one-two on the mound for CSI. Musso leads with a 4-3 record with a 2.89 ERA, while Capellan is right behind with a 3.23 ERA and a 4-1 record.
Players to Watch (FDU): The Lightning have six players batting over .300 and none have been better than David Rodriguez, who is batting .430, with 15 extra-base hits and a team-best 33 RBI. Nataniel Toribio is also batting .400 even this season and had spread out 40 hits while stealing 18 of 20 stolen bases. Both Mark Vargas (.387) and Julius Puryear (.380) are tied for the team lead with 36 runs scored with Puryear also adding 25 RBI and 20 extra bases. Rich Frommelt is the team’s leader on the hill, as he is 3-1 overall with a 2.38 ERA. Lehmsn’s next two pitchers each have 4-5 records. Emmanuel Velasquez has an ERA of 5.90 ERA, while Jarret Oehler has a 6.52 ERA.
News & Notes: Today’s meetings will be the 105th and 106th meetings between the two teams all time. CSI has had the way better of the series all-time, winning 77 of the first 104 meetings, but it was Lehman that took two to three from CSI last year including the last two of the series by identical one-run differencial, 4-3 and 9-8. Prior to that, CSI had won 11 games in the series in a row, and 26 of the previous 27 meetings. CSI is 36-12 all-time against Lehman on the road, and had won 14 in a row prior to Lehman’s win over CSI last year in the Bronx. Today’s game will go a long way to determine CUNYAC Playoff positioning. Six teams make the CUNYAC Tournament with the top two teams earning first-round, single-elimination, byes. Because not all the CUNYAC teams play one-another during the season, playoff positioning is determined by overall win-loss percentage. Right now, CSI sits in first place wih a .481 percentage, followed by John Jay’s .462. Lehman is in third place at .424. All three teams are in contention for the top two places.
