BROCKPORT, NY – The nationally-ranked No. 23 SUNY Brockport baseball team earned an at-large bid into the NCAA Division III Baseball Championships and will host a four-team regional Friday-Sunday at the Clark V. Whited Baseball Complex. The hosting rights mark the first time in program history that the Golden Eagles will host NCAA Baseball Tournament action.
The tournament features two conference champion automatic qualifiers and two at-large teams. Pool A (automatic qualifiers) consists of No. 22 Wheaton (MA) (New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference) and Johnson and Wales (Great Northeast Athletic Conference). The at-large teams (Pool C) are No. 23 SUNY Brockport (SUNYAC Runner-Up) and No. 21 Baldwin Wallace (Ohio Athletic Conference Runner-up). The Golden Eagles secured one of 18 at-large bids after finishing second in the SUNYAC Tournament This past week in Oswego, NY.
NCAA Division III Baseball Regional Website
Tickets (Cash Only)
- $10 – Adults
- $5 – Students/Seniors/Children
- Children under 2 are free
Friday, May 20
- Johnson & Wales vs. Wheaton - 10 a.m.
- Brockport vs. Baldwin Wallace - 1:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 21
- Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser - 8:30 a.m.
- Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner - 12:00 p.m.
- Game 3 Loser vs. Game 4 Winner - 3:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 22
- Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner - 11:00 a.m.
- Game 7 (If Necessary) - 3:00 p.m.
*The winner of the regional tournament advances to the super regional on Friday and Saturday, May 28 at a site to be determined
The NCAA announced a playoff field of 60 teams. This is one of 14 four-team pods playing a double-elimination format. Two two-team pods will play a best three of five series. The survivors from this week will be placed into eight super-regionals (best two of three) next week. The winners of the super regionals will play in the NCAA finals at Perfect Game Field in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
The Golden Eagles recently finished as the runner-up at the SUNYAC Conference Tournament and currently hold a record of 33-9 overall. They entered this past weekend's tournament as the No. 3 seed, defeating Plattsburgh and then ranked No. 11 Oswego on their way to the tournament championship game against then-ranked No. 12 Cortland. Brockport's 33 wins are the second-most in program history.
The last time the Golden Eagles made It into the NCAA Region Rounds was back in 2011 when the team finished the regular season 24-10 and received an at-large bid in the tournament. Back when it was an eight-team region, the Golden Eagles lost the first game to Eastern Connecticut State 2-0 in the regional rounds. they would then end up going on to win their next three games in the lower round against Mitchell, 10-0, Farmingdale State, 6-2, and then Eastern Connecticut State, 6-3, before losing to SUNY Cortland in the lower bracket finals, 9-4.
The 2022 season marks just the fourth time in program history that the Golden Eagles have made it into the NCAA Championships. Brockport made appearances in the tournament in 2004, 2010, and 2011. Current Head Coach
Justin Beach was a part of the 2004 coaching staff that made it to the Division III College World Series under then-head coach Mark Rowland.
Coach Beach has stated similarities between the 2004 and 2022 teams. One big one occurred back when the Golden Eagles pitching crew of
Andrew Huffman,
Tom Kretzler, and
Matt McGowan threw back-to-back-to-back complete-game wins against Fredonia State this season. Before this season the last time three Brockport pitchers threw three complete games in a row occurred in 2004 from Jeff Wilson, Ben Kimball, and Shawn Mahoney during the regional rounds of the NCAA Tournament. That 2004 team finished the regular season with a 26-12 and went on to have a 34-15 record. To get to the World Series, the Golden Eagles had to overcome SUNY Cortland in the SUNYAC Championships by winning two games in a row to claim the SUNYAC title and then defeating Cortland and Ithaca in the regional rounds to advance into the College World Series in Grand Chute, Wisconsin.
Looking at Baldwin Wallace (BW): Offensively, BW is led by junior All-OAC and Academic All-OAC first baseman
Luke Vonderhaar (New Bremen) and senior Midwest Region shortstop
Alex Ludwick (Brunswick/Padua Franciscan).
Vonderhaar, who is batting .355 with a slugging average of .716, leads the team in home runs (15) and is the BW Single Season Record holder in RBIs (62). He also leads the OAC in both categories.
Ludwick has batted .364 this season and has garnered several career records including most games played/started, at-bats, hits, runs, RBIs, singles, doubles, and triples.
Junior Academic All-OAC centerfielder
Vincent Capolupo (Kenmore, N.Y./St. Joseph's Collegiate) leads BW in batting average, hitting .389, and is tied for most hits (68). Junior Academic All-OAC second baseman
Ryan Guggenheim (Solon) is second on the team in batting average, hitting .370, and leads the team in doubles with 17.
On the mound, the Yellow Jackets are led by junior right-hander
Dawson Gabe (Lawrence, Ind.), who leads the team in innings pitched (60.2).
Gabe had an eight-inning performance in the opening game of the 2022 Ohio Athletic Conference, earning the win and totaling 11 strikeouts.
Gabe has a 4-3 record on the year and is third in the OAC in strikeouts with 77.
Vonderhaar,
Capolupo,
Guggenheim, and
Gabe all earned a spot on the OAC All-Tournament Team.
Looking at Wheaton: Wheaton's
Jake Studley was named the NEWMAC Baseball Athlete of the Year and
Stephen Quigley was tabbed the Pitcher of the Year. Studley enters the regionals with a team-high .392 batting average and a .479 OBP and a .677 slugging percentage. This season he's recorded y2 hits, 16 doubles, one triple, and nine home runs while scoring 45 runs and 37 RBIs. Tied with Studley for the most home runs for the Lions this season is Zach DeMattio who's homered nine times and leads the team in RBIs (40) while also leading the team's hitters with the most strikeouts by a batter (40).
Quigley enters the weekend on the mound with a 1.98 ERA where he's pitched in 59 innings this season and has struck out a total of 70 batters while only drawing 10 walks and 13 earned runs.
Looking at Johnson and Whales (Providence) (JWU): The Wildcat's offense was led this season by
Xavier Botelho as the third baseman finished the season with a .342 average. Over 39 games, he had 54 hits, 25 RBIs, 30 runs scored, eight doubles, and four home runs. He also had a .390 on-base percentage and a .468 slugging percentage.
Trevor Juan, the team's center fielder, finished the season with a .292 batting average, six home runs, 47 hits, 38 RBIs, and 38 runs scored. finished the season with a .324 batting average, a .447 on-base percentage, and a .510 slugging percentage. He had 47 hits, six home runs, 40 RBIs, and 42 runs scored to go along with eight stolen bases.
The Wildcats were led on the mound by
Dan DellaValle who started in a team-high 10 starts for JWU. He pitched 59.2 innings while giving up 39 earned runs and 77 hits, striking out a total of 56 batters for an 8. 45 K/8 average. He currently holds a 5.88 ERA.
Kyle Cutler tallied a team-low 4.18 ERA through 47.1 innings on the mound. Appearing in 12 games he recorded a 4-1 record and three saves with three complete games while giving up 39 hits and 22 earned runs.
Looking at SUNY Brockport: The Golden Eagles have come together this season for everyone playing a tremendous part in the team's success. Each individual on the team has not been disappointed when called on for their time to be up.
Hey Batter Batter: In his sixth season with the Golden Eagles, having been named the Bob Wallace Player of the Year, SUNYAC First Team All-Conference, SUNYAC All-Tournament Team, and a three-time Prestosport Athlete/Pitcher of the Week,
Tom Kretzler has been one of the biggest names in program history. Kretzler has set nearly every major hitting record a Golden Eagle can while on the verge of breaking others, Kretzler currently holds the records for most games played (176), career hits (200), career doubles (47), career home runs (37), career RBI's (158), runs scored in a career (154) and is just two triples away from tying current teammate
Nicholas Pastore's record of most triples in a career (13). With multiple career records, Kretzler has also broken single-season records this season such as the most home runs in a single season (16), runs scored in a season (45), and is tied for the most hits in a single season (60) while with 162 at-bats this season, he's just 15 at-bats away from tying Mike Ranalli's (2004) most at-bats in a single season record (177)…oh and he also one of the team's best pitchers where he has a 1.87 ERA through 62.2 innings on the mounds while striking out 65 batters and only allowing 10 walks this season. With a .370 batting average, Kretzler ranks eighth in the country in home runs (16), 11
th in total bases (128), 13
th in the country in complete games (5), 14
th in RBIs (62), 15
th in slugging percentage (.795) and has the 30
th lowest ERA in the nation (1.87).
Heading into the regional weekend,
James Houlahan enters as Brockport's best hitter where the fifth-year senior from Yorktown Heights, NY has compiled a .379 ERA to this date where he's tallied 55 hits in 145 at-bats. Houlahan is five hits away from the program's 61 mark of most hits in a single season. The Golden Eagles' leadoff man has scored 35 runs while hitting two triples and 31 RBIs.
Center fielder and first-team All-Conference and SUNYAC All-Tournament team selection
Nicholas Pastore hold a .345 batting average entering this weekend as the speedy center fielder currently holds the records for the most triples in a single season (9) and career (13). Had the fifth-year senior never hit a triple before the 2022 season, his nine triples this season would still tie him for the previous most triples in his career record when Jim Voutour hit nine from 1985-1988. Pastore had recorded 51 hits, two doubles, and nine triples while driving in 41 RBIs. He holds a .642 slugging percentage and a .423 on-base percentage. He is also a perfect 17-17 on stolen base attempts.
Ryan Mansell will enter with a .338 batting average with 45 hits in 133 at-bats. He's scored 45 runs and hits a team-high 14 doubles and three home runs including the go-ahead homer against Oswego State to help propel Brockport into the SUNYAC Championship games.
The youngest of all players on the Golden Eagles who meets the minimum requirements to be considered for stats of two plate appearances per game and appearing in 75% of games this season is
Zach Eldred. Appearing in 35 games, having started 20, Eldred has recorded 27 hits in 83 at-bats this season for a .325 ERA. The sophomore outfielder has scored 20 runs with five doubles, and one triple and has hit the fourth-most home runs on the team with four.
The first baseman,
Ryan Voight is hitting .319 wherein 119 at-bats he's gotten 38 hits, nine doubles, and a triple with 20 RBIs and 25 runs having only struck out 12 times this whole season.
Third Baseman
Matt O'Dair enters as the Golden Eagles' final batter hits over .300. with a .305 batting average, O'Dair has started in all 42 games this season. With 43 hits in 141 at-bats, he's tallied six doubles and a triple with 31 RBIs and 26 scored runs.
Shortstop Just Pangburn is Brockport's final batter meeting the minimum requirements of 2 Pa/G and 75% of games played where in 41 games and 41 starts, he's tallied 35 hits in 129 at-bats for a .271 average. He's recorded eight doubles and three home runs with 20 RBIs.
Behind the plate: a rotation of Golden Eagles catchers has all done phenomenal this season and are made up of
Jake Sisto,
David Belsito,
Colin Coykendall,
Jason Mansell, Ryan Mrozcks and
Mason Davis, Sisto, Belsito, and J. Mansell have spent the most time behind the plate as all hold a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage.
Leading with 116 putouts and four assists on 120 chances. / Starting in 12 games and appearing in 23 is sophomore
David Belsito who is hitting .231 with nine hits in 39 at-bats.
Freshman
Jason Mansell has a .366 batting average with 15 hits in 41 at-bats. Appearing in 21 games and starting in 10, he's scored 14 runs with two doubles. Behind the plate, J. Mansell has had 97 putouts and seven assists for 104 chances. With eight runners attempting to steal on him, he's thrown out a total of three runners for a 0.375 caught stealing percentage while having not allowed a passed ball all season. Fifth-year
Jake Sisto has had 111 fielding chances with 105 putouts and six assists, he's caught two runners attempting to steal on him while batting .247 with 20 hits including four doubles and four home runs this season along with 18 RBIs and 21 runs.
On the Mound: Kretzler (7-2),
Andrew Huffman (8-2),
Matt McGowan(3-2), and
Colin Pytlak (5-0) lead the team in starts this season with
Adam Douglas (2-0),
Matthew Colucci (1-1), and
Justin DelVecchio being some of the top arms to come out of the bullpen.
Andrew Huffman and
Matthew Colucci were both named to the 2022 All-Conference this season for their work.
Huffman is the first player in program history to earn the SUNYAC Don Axtell Pitcher of the Year award. He earned his second straight all-conference nod after being named to the second team in 2021. Huffman ranks in the top 75 nationally and second in the conference with a 2.44 ERA. He ranks 37
th nationally and first in the conference with a school-record 88 strikeouts this year and he ranks in the top 50 nationally with an average of 11.94 strikeouts per nine innings. His eight wins on the mound this year lead the SUNYAC. He appeared in 11 games for Brockport and pitched 66.1 innings, holding opponents to a .207 batting average. In three seasons in the green and gold, he has 17 appearances and 13 wins in 109.1 innings pitched.
Colucci is making his first career appearance on an all-conference team for the Golden Eagles as a relief pitcher. He has appeared in 14 games this season and he boasts a 1-1 record with two saves. He has a 3.93 ERA and 26 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .180 batting average. He had a season-high eight strikeouts against Oswego on April 24
th.
Adam Douglas who was named to the SUNYAC All-Tournament team after recording the win against the Lakers in the semi-finals of the SUNYAC Tournament has been one of Beach's goes to guys coming out of the bullpen. Making a team-high 16 appearances including three out of four games in the SUNYAC tournament where he pitched 4.1 innings only allowing two hits and one run while recording three strikeouts, all against Oswego he also holds a .84 WHIP. This season he's pitched in 26.1 innings, the most of any primary reliever, and has only given up 11 hits, and six walks while striking out 22 total batters.
Justin DelVecchio has a 3.20 ERA wherein 13 relief appearances, the tall lefty from the 315 has pitched in 25.1 innings allowing just nine earned runs while punching out 10 batters.
Colin Pytlak has split an even amount of time between starts (5) and relief appearances (10). He holds a 5-0 record and a 3.34 ERA wherein 32.1 innings he's given up just 12 earned runs while striking out 32 total batters.
What's Ahead: If The Golden Eagles can be victorious this weekend and successful defend their home field, they will move on to the Super Regional Round where they will face the winner of the SUNY Cortland, Bridgewater State, Endicott and St. John Fisher regional in a best of three series. who ever wins the Super Regional round will then move on to the Division III College Baseball World Series in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in a double elimination 5/6 day tournament with the finals being a best of three game series.
