Brockport, NY- The SUNY Brockport baseball team will begin the 2023 season this weekend on Sunday, February 26^th at 11am, when they travel to face Kean University before playing Misericorida at 2:30pm down in New Jersey.
 
2022 Recap: The Golden Eagles are coming off a successful 2022 campaign where they finished 33-11 overall and a strong 13-5 in SUNYAC play, good for a third-place conference finish. Brockport held a national ranking of #22 going into the SUNYAC tournament. The Green and Gold would ultimately go 2-2 in the SUNYAC tournament, upending Plattsburgh State and #11 Oswego State before falling to #12 Cortland in the SUNYAC championship 12-9.
 
Brockport secured an at-large bid and hosted regionals for the 2022 NCAA Division III Championships. The season would come to an end after losing two tight contests against Baldwin Wallace and Wheaton College.
 
2022 Awards: For back-to-back seasons, UTL/P Tom Kretzler earned SUNYAC Player of the Year. He posted an absurd slash line of .367/.441/.793, while raking 17 home runs and 63 RBI'S. Kretzler also earned First-Team All-American honors from D3baseball.com. Kretzler was a major contributor to the Golden Eagles' pitching staff, making 11 starts and producing a rock solid 7-2 record while holding opposing batters to just a .222 batting average.
 
Andrew Huffman received the Don Axtell Pitcher of the Year honor, given to the best pitcher in the SUNYAC conference. Huffman led the Brockport rotation with an 8-3 record, a phenomenal 96 strikeouts over just 72.2 innings, and held opposing batters to just a .216 batting average.
 
OF Nicholas Pastore earned First-Team All-SUNYAC honors after an all-around impressive 2022 season. Pastore impressed with a .338/.420/.630 slash line, in addition to leading the Green and Gold in triples (9), as well as being second in slugging (.630) and home runs (6).
 
RP Matthew Colucci received a first-team all-SUNYAC selection as the anchor of the Golden Eagles bullpen in 2022. Colucci punched out 26 batters in just 20.1 innings of work and allowed an intimating .183 batting average to opposing batters.
 
2023 Watch List: Brockport will suit up five players that are listed as pre-season players to watch. Andrew Huffman, Matt McGowan, Colin Pytlak, Nicholas Pastore, and Ryan Mansell all made the list.
 
Graduate Student Colin Pytlak returns for another season with the Golden Eagles. Pytlak finished with an undefeated 5-0 record in 10 pitching appearances. He held opposing batters to just a .208 batting average last year while also striking out 32 batters over 32.1 innings of action.
 
Ryan Mansell also lands on the watch list after having a strong season for the Golden Eagles last spring. Mansell's 14 doubles led the team in 2022, to go with a strong .331 batting average and a .455 on-base percentage. In a SUNYAC Tournament elimination game, Mansell launched the go-ahead homer in the seventh to help bring the Golden Eagles into the conference championship game.
 
Matt McGowan returns for another year as a member of the Green and Gold pitching staff. Last season he drew nine starts on the course to a 3-2 record, including two complete games. Pitching a total of 41.1 innings, McGowan threw 36 strikeouts and just eight walks while keeping batters to a .278 average. His highlight performances last year were his two complete game shutouts. Matt struck out 10, allowed four hits and no runs to score against both Oneonta and New Paltz.

High Expectations: Despite losing two-way all-conference P/UTL Tom Kretzler, the Green and Gold retain much of the lineup and pitching staff from last season, including All-SUNYAC players Andrew Huffman and Nicholas Pastore.
 
1B/3B Brian Tietjen returns poised for a breakout year following a strong sophomore season. In his first full year of action, Tietjen played in 28 games, starting 15 of them, posting an excellent .394 batting average and 12 runs batted in across 71 at-bats.
 
OF/P Zach Eldred is also coming off a strong sophomore season that produced a solid .308/.427/.549 slash line across 22 starts and is poised to see more playing time as an everyday outfielder.
 
Junior P Keegan Jarvais will be in line for more appearances in 2023. Jarvais appeared 7 times out of the bullpen in his sophomore year, not allowing a single run and allowing just a .083 average to opposing batters.
 
C David Belsito and his golden glove could find their way into the everyday lineup, posting a respectable .244/.396/.293 slash line with a perfect fielding percentage and a 2022 team second with 124 putouts.
 
Home Highlights: The Green and Gold will play 14 games at the Clark V. Whited Complex, with the home opener taking place Friday, March 31^st against Plattsburgh State. Brockport will host two series against preseason-ranked teams. The first will be a critical three-game set beginning Friday, April 15^th with a doubleheader on April 16^th against #19 Cortland, and the second being a two-game set on May 6^th and 7^th versus #15 Oswego State in the Hometown Hero's game. The Golden Eagles Senior Day will take place on Saturday, April 29^th at 12 pm as they play a doubleheader against Bard College.
 
Road Schedule: Brockport will take part in 28 games, beginning with 18 straight road matchups that will have the Green and Gold travel to New Jersey, Virginia, and Florida, before returning to New York to face the University of Rochester on March 22^nd at 4 pm. Brockport will open conference play on the road at New Paltz for a 3-game set from March 24^th to March 25^th. The Golden Eagles will have a strong out-of-conference test on Tuesday, May 2^nd in a matchup with #23 Ithaca college, which will wrap up regular season road games for Brockport.
 
The Golden Eagles will head down to Salem, VA following this weekend for a trio of games ahead of their Florida trip. They will take on Roanoke College March 4^th at 6pm, Franklin and Marshall on March 5^th at 10am, and #8 Marietta March 5^th at 2pm.