ALBANY, N.Y. – The University at Albany baseball team returns to action with a Saturday doubleheader at Seton Hall and one game Sunday at CCSU. This will be the team's first game action since March 8, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
Game Info
Saturday, March 6 at Seton Hall (Doubleheader Game 1, 1:00 p.m.)
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Saturday, March 6 at Seton Hall (Doubleheader Game 2, 4:00 p.m.)
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Sunday, March 7 at CCSU (1:00 p.m.)
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Probable UAlbany Starting Pitchers (2020 stats)
Game 1 at Seton Hall: Ray Weber (1-2, 5.75 ERA)
Game 2 at Seton Hall: Cregg Scherrer (2-1, 4.30 ERA)
Sunday at CCSU: Anthony Germinerio (0-2, 5.40 ERA)
 
Leading the Pack

• Freshman Cregg Scherrer ended 2020 with back-to-back America East Rookie of the Week honors. His 23 innings pitched were the most in the conference and his .216 batting average against and two wins were second amongst qualified pitchers
• Dolan Ocasal, Brad Malm and Jason Bottari all had 10 runs last season, a mark that was tied-first in the America East
• Marc Wangenstein has 20 career home runs, which ranks fourth in program history. He is four home runs shy of sole possession of second place all-time
• UAlbany returns four-of-six players who appeared in all-12 games last season
• The Great Danes return eight-of-10 bench contributors from last season
• The pitching staff will return 85.2-of-100 innings pitched from the 2020 season, including returning all-three starters 

Scouting Seton Hall
Seton Hall's season began on Feb. 21 and the Pirates are off to a 1-4 start. The Pirates have been outscored 38-25 and scored a season-high 14 runs in a 17-14 loss to Florida Atlantic. Outfielder Tyler Shedler-McAvoy was named BIG EAST Preseason Co-Player of the Year and has started the season with only a .200 batting average, four runs, two RBIs and four walks. First baseman Matt Toke was named Preseason All-BIG EAST and has a .263 batting average with three runs and four RBIs. The Pirates were selected to finish third, earning one first place vote, in the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll.
 
Scouting CCSU
Central Connecticut State University will open its 2021 season with the newly scheduled one-game matchup against UAlbany. The Blue Devils add the game due to a weekend series cancelation vs. Holy Cross. CCSU was selected second in the Northeast Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll, as they collected two first-place votes. The Blue Devils enter the season as the reigning NEC Champions after winning in 2019. In 2020, CCSU went 4-8 in the shortened season. 
 
All-Time vs. Seton Hall, CCSU

• This will be the first-ever meeting between UAlbany and Seton Hall. The teams were scheduled to play in 2009 but the game was postponed. 
• Against other BIG EAST opponents, UAlbany is 2-17 against St. John's and outscored 173-89. The Great Danes also lost in the 2007 NCAA Tournament Second Round to Creighton, 21-11.
• UAlbany is 3-6 all-time vs. CCSU but won the last matchup between the programs in 2019, 7-3.

 
Last Time Out
UAlbany last played on March 8, 2020, when they defeated Manhattan 8-2 and completed a 2-1 series win over the Jaspers. In the game, Anthony Germinerio gave up one run in 4.2 innings, followed by 3.1 shutout innings from Kenny McLean. UAlbany ended the shortened season with a 7-5 record and were 7-2 after being swept in a season-opening series at Arizona. The Great Danes earned their only series sweep of the season at Norfolk State, where they outscored the Spartans 25-6 in three games.
 
Around the America East
The America East is divided into two divisions for the 2021 season based on location. Division A features Hartford, Maine, UAlbany and UMass Lowell, and Division B features Stony Brook, NJIT, Binghamton and UMBC. Stony Brook (2-1), NJIT (1-1) and UMass Lowell (0-3) are the only three America East teams who have started play. UMBC and Maine start Friday and UAlbany starts Saturday, while Binghamton and Hartford start March 20. Stony Brook was picked as the favorite in the America East Baseball Preseason Poll, earning six first-place votes, followed by a tie between Binghamton and Hartford in second, each earning one first-place vote. UAlbany placed fourth followed by UMass Lowell, NJIT, UMBC and Maine. 

Offensive Power Returning 
Leading the charge for UAlbany bats are Marc Wangenstein, Dolan Ocasal, Brad Malm and Jason Bottari. Wangenstein has 20 career homeruns for the Great Danes, a number that ranks him fourth in program history. Ocasal had a .317 batting average and a team-high 10 runs and eight walks last season. Malm had a team-leading 10 runs, four doubles and one triple. Bottari earned the chance to start and had a team-leading 10 runs and seven stolen bases. His stolen bases ranked third in the conference. 
 
The Staff's All Back!
UAlbany returns Cregg Scherrer, Ray Weber and Anthony Germinerio who each started four games last season. Scherrer led the charge with 23 innings pitched, second in the conference, a 2-1 record, 15 strikeouts, 4.30 ERA and two America East weekly awards. Weber finished with 20.1 innings, conference fourth-best .230 batting average against and one complete-game shutout. Germinerio pitched 15 innings and had a 5.40 ERA and seven strikeouts.
 
Leading the bullpen, 2020 team captain Kenny McLean had a team-high three wins, 1.69 ERA and 0.94 WHIP across 10.2 innings pitched. 2020 Collegiate Baseball Preseason All-American Joe Kruszka recorded one save in four appearances.
 
Big Departures After 2020
UAlbany lost two-of-five players that started all-12 games in the shortened 2020 season. Nick Kondo and Alex Thul departed as well as relief pitcher Hunter Torres. Kondo was a team captain and had seven runs, five RBIs and six walks. Thul was named the first America East Player of the Week last season and had a team-leading .325 batting average, 13 hits and nine RBIs. His nine RBIs were fifth in the conference. Torres pitched 7.2 innings in relief across four appearances for the Great Danes. 
 
Picked Fourth
UAlbany was picked to finish fourth in the 2021 America East Preseason Coaches' Poll, earning 27 points and no first-place votes. Stony Brook, 2019 conference and regular-season champion, was selected first with 46 points and six-of-seven possible first-place votes. Binghamton and Hartford followed closely behind, tied for second, with 41 points and one first-place vote each. Following UAlbany was UMass Lowell (24), NJIT (20), UMBC (13) and Maine (12). 

Next: UAlbany is scheduled to visit Northeastern in a newly added game on March 9 and Merrimack on March 10.