With the regular season coming to a close on Saturday, the MAAC Baseball Championship is set to get underway today at Clover Stadium in Pomona, N.Y.
This year’s tournament features eight teams, an increase from six in previous years due to the addition of Merrimack and Sacred Heart to the MAAC. The bottom four seeds will play in a single elimination round on Tuesday before the winners advance to play the third and fourth seeds to kick off the double elimination rounds on Wednesday.
After a chaotic final weekend across the conference, the eight-team lineup is set. Below is a look at each team heading into the playoffs.
No. 1 Seed – Rider Broncs (33-16, 23-6 MAAC)
The Broncs won their first regular-season championship since 2015, and they did it by sweeping No. 2-seeded Fairfield in their final series. They lost only one conference series all season and are led by MAAC Player of the Year Joe Tiroly, Pitcher of the Year Brian Young, Relief Pitcher of the Year Gavin Hawkes and Coach of the Year Lee Lipinski.
Tiroly leads the MAAC in a plethora of offensive categories, including batting average (.396), home runs (17), slugging percentage (.786) and RBI (69). Young, on the other hand, leads in ERA (2.64) and the team went 11-2 in his starts. Heading into the playoffs, Young has thrown a complete game shutout in two of his last four starts and allowed just three runs in his last 27 innings pitched.
Meanwhile, Hawkes has pitched to a sparkling 1.88 ERA and 1.07 WHIP in 38.1 innings out of the bullpen. If they have a weakness, though, it stems from shaky command moving down their pitching staff; they lead the MAAC in wild pitches (80) and hit by pitches (112).
After winning the MAAC Championship in both 2021 and 2023, the Broncs will look to find themselves back on top for the third time in five seasons.
No. 2 Seed – Fairfield Stags (36-18, 21-9 MAAC)
Fairfield has been the MAAC Championship runner-up in four of the last five seasons but has not won the tournament since 2016. Consistently one of the best teams in the conference, they may be the best team on paper this year.
Despite losing the regular season championship in the last series of the season, the Stags lead the MAAC in runs scored (435), ERA (4.93) and are tied with Rider for the fewest errors committed (48).
Senior infielder Dean Ferrara ranks second in the conference in batting average (.379), junior infielder Luke Nomura is tied for second in home runs (14) and junior outfielder Matthew Bucciero ranks fourth in OPS (1.086) – all three hitters were selected the to the All-MAAC First Team. The Stags have also drawn the most walks in the MAAC (346) – 70 more than second place Sacred Heart
Meanwhile, All-MAAC First Team sophomore right-hander Ben Alekson and All-MAAC Second Team graduate student left-hander Bowen Baker rank second and fourth in the conference for ERA. As one of, if not the best all-around team in the MAAC, Fairfield hopes to finally get over the hump this year.
No. 3 Seed – Sacred Heart Pioneers (27-24, 17-13 MAAC)
Sacred Heart joined the MAAC after winning the NEC regular season championship last season and falling one win shy of the overall championship. They rank near the middle of the pack in most offensive categories but scored the third-most runs in large part because of their 132 stolen bases.
All-MAAC Second Team senior outfielder Alex Ungar led the conference with 31 stolen bases in 33 tries while also posting a 1.144 OPS, the second-best mark in the conference.
The Pioneers’ pitching is also solid. Despite only striking out 304 batters in 426.1 innings, they put up the third-best team ERA (5.72) and gave up the fewest extra-base hits (109). They are led by two young starters, sophomores Joey Trombley and Elijah Foster. Foster ranks third in the conference in batting average against (.222) but has also issued the most walks (46).
While a sound team in terms of offense and pitching, Sacred Heart does lead the MAAC with 101 errors. To beat the best teams this week, they need to avoid unforced mistakes.
No. 4 Seed – Siena Saints (22-30, 17-13 MAAC)
The Saints got off to a slow start by losing each of their first three conference series. But after that, they went 14-7 against their MAAC foes the rest of the way.
Their pitching staff is suspect – their 7.56 ERA is the worst among playoff teams and All-MAAC First Team redshirt junior ace Alistair Morin is the only arm on the staff with an ERA below 6.00. The staff has also allowed 571 hits in just 439.1 innings, the second-most in the conference.
Offensively, they are a free-swinging bunch that is the only team not to walk at least 200 times. They also rank dead last in stolen bases (40) and near the middle of the pack in most other key offensive categories
Two All-MAAC Second Team honorees – redshirt freshman catcher/infielder Aidan Paradine and sophomore infielder Jake Sparks – present a quality punch near the top of the lineup, but Siena will need their pitching staff to step up in a big way to have success in Pomona.
No. 5 Seed – Quinnipiac Bobcats (26-24-1, 17-13 MAAC)
The Bobcats’ offense is perhaps the best in the conference. They lead in batting average (.306), slugging percentage (.486), hits (558) and home runs (64) while ranking second in runs scored (413).
They have three hitters with an OPS over 1.000 – graduate student infielder/outfielder Sebastian Mueller (1.085), senior infielder CJ Willis (1.045) and junior catcher Christian Smith (1.006). Junior infielder Alez Irizarry’s .999 OPS sits just below them, while each of the four boppers also has at least 12 homers.
Like Siena, Quinnipiac’s pitching is cause for concern. Their ninth-ranked 7.39 ERA is driven by a MAAC-leading 314 walks. But even with shaky run prevention, the Bobcats are the only team to beat first No. 1-seeded Rider in a series this season. They scored double-digit runs in both wins over the Broncs, something they may need more of this week.
No. 6 Seed – Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers (24-27, 15-13 MAAC)
Freshman left-hander Serigne Sarre burst onto the scene for the Mountaineers with 13 strikeouts in seven scoreless innings to open his season against Norfolk State. That start proved to be the beginning of one of the best freshman seasons in the conference – he has the fifth best ERA (3.46), the most strikeouts (82) and earned both All-MAAC Second and Rookie Team honors.
Despite Sarre’s season, the Mount staff still ranks in the middle of the pack overall. They are a bit all or nothing, leading the MAAC in strikeouts (409) while also giving up the second most homers (66).
Offensively, they are a small-ball oriented group that stole by far the most bases in the conference (179) while being the best team at walking and getting on base aside from Fairfield. They have some home run pop too, ranking seventh with 48 long balls.
Junior infielder Alex Mendes’s .504 on-base percentage leads the conference while senior infielder Nick Fleming’s .449 mark ranks tenth. The Mountaineers are an interesting team that, while not as dangerous on paper as some of the higher-seeded teams, will be tough to beat in a close game.
No. 7 Seed – Marist Red Foxes (23-27, 14-14 MAAC)
Marist’s playoff berth is in large part thanks to a pitching staff that went from one of the worst in the MAAC to one of the best in just one season. Their 5.59 ERA is second behind Fairfield and well over two runs better than last year.
Sophomore left-hander Will Taylor is one of the best starters in the conference – his 3.38 ERA ranks third. The bullpen is also strong, led by MAAC All-Rookie Team honoree Ethan Marzo as well as junior right-hander Caleb Kempler and sophomore left-hander Andrew Speranza.
The offense lacks punch as they rank last in homers (21) and slugging percentage (.364) while they emphasize working long at-bats and moving runners, as evidenced by their conference-leading 34 sacrifices.
Graduate student outfielder Jason Claiborn ranks in the top 10 with a .452 on-base percentage and the Red Foxes will need him and All-MAAC Rookie Team member Noel Rivera to lead the charge offensively. Despite a generally lackluster offense, they have an 11-7 record against the other teams in the playoffs and have shown an ability to grind out tough wins.
No. 8 Seed – Niagara Purple Eagles (19-27, 14-16 MAAC)
Last year’s MAAC Champions, who went 20-4 during regular season conference play, had a very different season this year. Six games into MAAC play this season, they already had as many losses as they did all of last year and they just barely snuck into the playoffs by sweeping Canisius in their final series.
The Purple Eagles rank tenth in both batting average and ERA and do not jump out in any statistical category. When they score runs, it is often with power hitting, most notably from sophomore catcher/infielder Jason Green and junior utilityman Curtis McKay, who hit 13 and 10 home runs, respectively.
The pitching staff is mediocre and struggles at times to limit both walks and hits. As the final seed in the playoffs, Niagara will be looking for a surprise deep run.
Edited by Ben Leeds
Photo by Caitlin Bombassei
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