STANDISH, Maine – The Saint Joseph's College baseball team, led by 25th-year Head Coach Will Sanborn' 86, opens the 2017 season with eight games in the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational in Auburndale, Florida next week.

OVERVIEW:

Saint Joseph's will play the full complement of 40 contests this spring, including 14 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) games and 17 tilts at Larry Mahaney Diamond.

SEASON OPENER: vs. WPI (DH) – Sunday, March 5th @ 10:00 AM

HOME & NEW ENGLAND OPENER: vs. Gordon College – Wednesday, March 29th @ 3:30 PM

GNAC OPENER: vs. Norwich University (DH) – Saturday, April 1st @ 1:00 PM

REGULAR SEASON FINALE: @ Anna Maria College (DH) – Saturday, April 29th @ 12:00 PM

KEY GNAC MATCHUP: vs. Suffolk University (DH) – Saturday, April 22nd @ 12:00 PM – 2015 & 2016 GNAC Champion

NOTABLE NON-CONFERENCE GAMES:

• vs. MIT – Sunday, April 2nd @ 1:00 PM
• @ Endicott College – Tuesday, April 11th @ 4:00 PM
• vs. University of Southern Maine – Thursday, April 13th @ 3:00 PM
• vs. Endicott College – Tuesday, April 18th @ 4:00 PM
• vs. Bowdoin College – Tuesday, April 25th @ 4:00 PM
• vs. UMass.-Boston – Wednesday, April 26th @ 4:00 PM

COVERAGE: All games played in Florida and at home – and most if not all away games - will feature live online stats (check schedule for links) and all home contests will be streamed live – free and in HD – at www.gomonks.tv

OUTLOOK:

CAPTAINS: Seniors Brett Barbati, Taylor Black, Jamie Collins, Dan Donovan, & Cejay Suarez

RETURNING STARTERS/2016 Statistics (6):

• SS Max McCoomb '17 (.346, 23 runs, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 8 SB)
• 2B Joey Murphy '19 (.337, 19 runs, 6 2B, 15 RBI)
• 3B Taylor Black '17 (.333, 37 runs, 5 2B, 2 HR, 8 SB)
• RF Dennis Meehan '17 (.315, 18 runs, 7 2B, 2 HR, 12 RBI, 7 SB)
• DH Jamie Collins '17 (.306, 13 runs, 5 2B, 4 HR, 34 RBI)
• 1B Brett Barbati '17 (.290, 10 runs, 6 2B, 13 RBI)

STARTERS LOST (2):

• C Nic Lops '16 (.376, 23 runs, 12 2B, 2 HR, 40 RBI)
• LF Taylor Reuillard '16 (.333, 38 runs, 6 2B, 3 3B, 4 HR, 29 RBI, 9 SB)

RETURNING PITCHERS (20+ IP):

• Josh Partridge '18 (5-1, 2.41 ERA, 59.2 IP, 42 K, 19 BB)
• Travis Godbout '18 (6-2, 3.16 ERA, 42.2 IP, 45 K, 20 BB)
• Grayson Jennings '19 (3-3, 3.45 ERA, 47 IP, 40 K, 23 BB)
• Nick Malatesta '17 (5-3, 4.02 ERA, 31.1 IP, 31 K, 13 BB)
• Marc Poirier '18 (0-2, 4.10 ERA, 16 APP, 26.1 IP, 34 K, 16 BB)

PITCHERS LOST (2):

• Corey McNamara '16 (4-2, 2.97 ERA, 7 saves, 20 APP, 39.1 IP, 40 K, 7 BB)
• Riley Cox '16 (1-1, 3.43 ERA, 18 APP, 21 IP, 15 K, 5 BB)

NEWCOMERS TO WATCH:

•  OF Ben Gravel (Rochester, N.H./Spaulding)
• OF Adam Twitchell (Shrewsbury, Mass./Shrewsbury)
• LHP Roderick Maynard (Baldwin, Maine/Sacopee Valley)
• RHP Matt Demma (Worcester, Mass./St. Peter Marian)

#GOMONKS 

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Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 474-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.