Coming off of their biggest win in program history, the Dolphins are looking to keep their mini win streak intact as they kick off conference play today against visiting City College of New York. The game today is the first of a three-game weekend set that will intro CUNYAC play for both sides.
CSI vs. THE CITY COLLEGE OF NEW YORK
Matchup: College of Staten Island (7-9, 0-0 CUNYAC) vs. CCNY (4-7, 0-0 CUNYAC)
Where: CSI Baseball Complex – 2800 Victory Boulevard, Staten Island, NY
Live Stats: https://csidolphins.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary
Live Video: http://www.csidolphins.com/CSISportsNet
All-Time Series: CSI leads, 67-10
Last Meeting: April 14, 2018 – CCNY won both games, 3-2 & 7-5
Players to Watch (CSI): After a big statistical day, Jett Nouvertne still leads the team in hitting, batting .434 with a team-best 23 hits, six triples, and 10 RBI, which is tied for the team lead with Andrew Nathan, who raised his batting average to .296 with a big day as well on Wednesday. Domenick Castiglione is at .400 for the season, and is second on the squad with eight walks, raising his on-base percentage to .510, tops on the squad. Michael Ciancio is batting .314. In limited at-bats Joseph Manzi is batting a heavy .600 (6-10) while Sean Becker is at a solid .367 (11-30). With a pair of stolen bags on Wednesday, Nick Falcone has a team-best seven this season. Look for freshman John Esposito to get the nod today on the hill. Esposito is tops on the team with a 2-0 record and a 1.13 ERA through 16 innings of work.
Players to Watch (CCNY): The Beavers have four players doing heavy damage at the plate this season, led by Hamley Volquez, who is at .455 with a homer and six RBI. Right behind him is the lethal Michael Espinal, who is batting .441 with six extra-bases, including two homers and a team-best 11 RBI. Alex Velazquez has made six starts and is holding his own batting .421 after 19 at-bats. Stephen Peters is the hits leader with 16, leading the team also in runs scored with 13 while batting .390. Look for Peter Komaroski of Velazquez to get innings today. Komaroski is 0-2 with a 5.51 while Velazquez is due for a start and has been stellar so far with a 1-0 record and 1.80 ERA after a pair of starts.
News & Notes: The overall record in this series shows that it has been a series overwhelmingly in favor of CSI, but the Beavers swept the Dolphins last year in a pair of tight games, 3-2, and 7-5. It was the Beavers’ first sweep of the series since 2007. Prior to that, CSI had won 12 games in a row over CCNY and had won 17-straight road games over the Beavers at home. Today’s game is the first in a three-game set. Today’s single game is being playing in Staten Island, and tomorrow’s doubleheader will be played on CCNY’s home field at Baseball Heaven in Yaphank, NY. Overall, CSI is 44-6 at home all-time vs. CCNY, but the Beavers have fared well so far on the road, going 4-5 this season. Last year, CCNY went 12-21 overall but 6-4 in the CUNYAC. They fell in the single-elimination portion of the Tournament to Baruch College by a score of 19-7. Both teams share a common opponent in Yeshiva University. CCNY scored 5-0 & 6-1 wins over Yeshiva in a pair of lower scoring contests, while CSI is coming off of tremendous high-scoring wins against the Maccabees by scores of 30-2 and 15-6. The 30 runs they scored in the opener were a new program record, breaking the former record of 26 runs that was achieved three other times.
