SYRACUSE -- Le Moyne College announced the 2011 baseball schedule on Thursday. The Dolphins will play 55 regular season games, including 17 home contests, in their final season competing at the Division I level.
The Dolphins, who went 28-27 last season to extend their streak of consecutive winning seasons to 13, open their 64th season with a three-game series at defending Big 12 Champion Texas A&M beginning on Friday, February 18. The Aggies went 43-21-1 last season and advanced to the finals of the Coral Gables (Fla.) Regional.
The following weekend, the Dolphins take on James Madison in a four-game series in Harrisonburg, Va. The Dukes won the Colonial Athletic Association regular season title last year and posted a 30-23 record, including a mark of 18-6 in CAA action.Over the College’s Spring Break at the beginning of March, Le Moyne plays eight games in a span of 10 days. The Dolphins visit NCAA Regional participant Saint Louis for three games from the 4th to the 6th. They then travel to Southern Illinois, which finished fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 28-29 record last year, for games on the 8th and 9th. Le Moyne wraps up the trip with a three-game series at Missouri (29-26, 8th in the Big 12 last year) the 11th-13th.
After visiting Longwood (28-20) for three games on March 19 and 20, the Dolphins travel to University Park, Pennsylvania for a three-game series with Penn State from the 25th-27th. The Nittany Lions failed to qualify for the Big 10 tournament last year after going 22-30.
On March 29, the Dolphins host Bucknell in a doubleheader for their first action at Dick Rockwell Field. The Bison went 25-35 and won the Patriot League Championship as the #4 seed last year to earn a spot in the Columbia (S.C.) Regional.
In the month of April, the Dolphins spend three straight weekends at home. On April 2 and 3, the Dolphins host Youngstown State for three games. The Penguins finished sixth in the Horizon League with a 22-34 record last year. The following weekend, Wright State comes to Dick Rockwell Field for three games. The Raiders won the Horizon League regular season title in 2010 with a 31-25 record, including a 17-6 mark in conference action. Longwood makes a return trip on April 16 and 17 to complete the home weekend schedule.
On April 22, the Dolphins head to Florida Gulf Coast University for a three-game series. The Eagles, who went 38-20 last season and won the Atlantic Sun regular season championship with a 25-5 record, brought in the second-best recruiting class in the state of Florida, according to Baseball America, including four players selected in June’s First-Year Player Draft.
Le Moyne closes out April with four games at a tournament hosted by Liberty. The Dolphins will play nine-inning games against New Orleans (13-39) and Liberty on Friday the 29th. On the 30th, the Dolphins will play New Orleans and close out the weekend against Liberty on Sunday. Liberty, which went 42-19 last year and finished in second place in the Big South with a 19-8 conference mark, was one of four schools to win at least 40 games and not be selected to the NCAA tournament.
On May 7 and 8, the Dolphins visit Lafayette for three games. The Leopards were 15-30 last year and finished fifth in the six-team Patriot League with a 7-13 mark. The following weekend, the Dolphins wrap up the regular season with a pair of games at Boston College. The Eagles went 30-28 last year and finished eighth in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a 14-16 record.
In mid-week action at home, the Dolphins will play doubleheaders against St. Bonaventure on April 5 and Cornell on April 12 and host single games against UAlbany on April 19 and Canisius on May 4. On the road during the week, the Dolphins will visit Cornell on March 30, Canisius on April 14, Buffalo on April 26 for a doubleheader and UAlbany on May 3.
Le Moyne, led by first-year head coach Cassidy, returns all but three starters from last year’s team that went 3-6 against ranked teams. Sophomore second baseman Zach Wiley (Toluca Woods, Calif./Crespi) led the Dolphins in hitting as a freshman last year with a .356 average, while slugging .500 and scoring 47 runs. Junior shortstop Matt Marra (Brewerton, N.Y./Central Square) hit .321 with 51 runs batted in and 37 runs scored. Junior center fielder Brett Botsford (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker) batted .359 over the final 31 games of the season to finish the year at .294, while scoring 42 runs and stealing nine bases. On the mound, the Dolphins return seniors Jeff Tardiff (Framingham, Mass./Framingham) and Cory Nelson (Manlius, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius) and junior Mark Kuzma (Waverly, N.Y./Waverly). Tardiff went 6-3 last season with a 3.33 earned run average and 52 strikeouts over 81 innings. Nelson posted a 2-6 mark with a 5.15 ERA and 50 strikeouts in 64 and two-thirds innings, while Kuzma was 3-4 with a 5.19 ERA and 50 strikeouts in 67 and two-thirds innings.
Courtesy: Le Moyne Athletics
