GAME DAY INFORMATION DATE: April 28, 2021 LOCATION: Frank Vieira Field West Haven, Conn. GAME DAY LINKS LIVE STATS LIVE VIDEO

NEWS NEWS ROSTER ROSTER SCHEDULE SCHEDULE 2021 STATS STATS

UNH Baseball Returns to NE10 Play Hosting AIC Wednesday at 3:30 pm

THE LEAD

The Blue and Gold return to Frank Vieira Field Wednesday afternoon to host AIC in a 3:30 pm first pitch. UNH will technically be the away team as the original schedule had the series with AIC being played in Springfield, Mass. 

UNH enters the game with a 6-6 (6-4 NE10) mark in NE10 play after a split of the city series rivalry with SCSU last weekend. This will be the first meeting of the year between the Southwest Division rivals after the April 10-11 series was postponed. AIC enters the game with an 8-12 overall record. However the Yellow Jackets are just behind the Chargers in Southwest Division play with a 7-5 mark so the game has important playoff implications. 

UNH currently sits in second place in the Southwest Division standings, while AIC is third. Le Moyne sits in first place with a 11-5 record.

All the action from Frank Vieira Field will be broadcast live on the Charger Sports Network on NE10 NOW. Live stats will also be available via NewHavenChargers.com. 

SERIES HISTORY VS AIC

This will be the 55th meeting between the two teams. UNH holds a 36-17-1 all-time advantage. The Chargers are 20-4-1 in games played at Frank Vieira Field. The two teams have split the last 10 games. The Yellow Jackets did sweep the Blue and Gold the last times the two teams met in 2019. They did not play in the Covid-shortened 2020 season last spring. AIC won the three games by scores of 8-1, 6-2, and 12-7 on April 13-14, 2019. In the final game, the Chargers fell behind 6-0 in the bottom of the first inning. Current Chargers George Pappas (Binghamton, N.Y./Susquehanna Valley) (Binghamton, NY.Susquehanna Valley) was 3-for-4 with three RBIs and Noah Budzik (Cromwell, Conn./Cromwell) (Cromwell, CT/Cromwell) had an RBI hit and run scored. AIC won the first-ever meeting 4-3 on April 2, 1984.

SCOUTING THE CHARGERS

UNH (6-6; 6-4 NE10) has four Chargers batting .324 or better as the Blue and Gold have a team batting average of .294, placing them third overall in the NE10. Robert Taylor (Wolcott, Conn./The Gunnery) leads the way with a .400 average. The Rookie of the Week is second on the team with 12 hits and 10 RBIs. Tyler Wells (Danville, Vt./St. Johnsbury Academy) (Danville, VT/St. Johnsbury Academy) has a team best 11 RBIs and is hitting .361. Andrew Bianco (Kings Park, N.Y./Kings Park) (Kings Park, NY/Kings Park) and Billy Huber (Smithtown, N.Y./Hauppauge) (Smithtown, NY/Hauppauge) are batting .325 and .324 respectively. On the mound, Thomas Eletto (Locust Valley, N.Y./Locust Valley) leads the way. IN his three starts, Eletto is 1-0 and pitching to a 2.03 ERA. He also has a 12-2 strikeout to walk ratio. The Chargers have six wins from six different pitchers. Eletto, Izaiya Mestre (Pittsfield, Mass./Taconic) (Pittsfield, MA/Taconic), Andrew Cain (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) Seaford, NY/Seaford), Cam Guarino (Falmouth, Maine/Falmouth) (Falmouth, ME/Falmouth), and Bryan Pazulsi (Media, PA/Cardinal O'Hara) all have one win. 

SCOUTING THE YELLOW JACKETS

AIC's leading hitters are Mosqera Alejandro and Brandon Gaul. They are hitting .340 and .323 respectively. Alejandro leads the team with 10 runs, and three home runs. Gaul is batting .323 and leads the team with 21 hits and five doubles. The leading run producer for the Yellow Jackets is Cam DeFeo who has driven in 15 runners through 20 games. On the mound, Joe Pepe and Matt Costanza lead the way with two wins apiece. Joe Kemlage has thrown the most innings (32.1). Pepe has thrown the second most innings (30.0) and for pitchers who have thrown more than eight innings, has the best ERA at 4.80. In the NE10 team standings, the Yellow Jackets are 12th in both hitting and pitching.

TAYLOR NAMED NE10 ROOKIE OF WEEK FOR WEEK SEVEN

New Haven outfielder Robert Taylor (Wolcott, Conn./The Gunnery) (Wolcott, CT/The Gunnery) became the first Charger to earn NE10 accolades this spring when he was named Northeast-10 Rookie of the Week for the period of April 19-25, 2021. Taylor helped the Blue and Gold to a 3-3 week in their six games. Starting each game, Taylor started the week with a three-hit effort in a doubleheader at St. Rose on Monday, April 19, 2021. He closed the week with four hits in a doubleheader against city-rival Southern Connecticut on Saturday, April 24, 2021. He closed the week batting .474, collecting a team-high nine hits and collected one hit in five of the six games. He had six extra-base hits, including four doubles, a triple, and a home run.  

POST SEASON PLANS
As announced by the conference office on April 1st, the NE10 has adopted a postseason plan that includes all 14 teams qualifying for the conference championship. The Championship will be conducted in divisional play until the championship series. With seven teams in each division, the top seeded team will receive a first-round bye with the highest seeds, 2-4, hosting first-round games on Tuesday, May 11. Semifinal match-ups will take place on Thursday, May 13 with a best of three divisional championship series set for Sunday, May 16 and if necessary, Monday, May 17. The NE10 Championship Series, another best two of three series, is scheduled for Friday, May 21 and Saturday, May 22.

Playoff Dates
Tuesday, May 11 - Southwest Division First Round
Thursday, May 13 - Southwest Division Semifinal
Sunday, May 16/Monday, May 17 - Southwest Division Championship Series (Best 2 of 3)
Friday, May 21/Saturday, May 22 - Northeast-10 Conference Championship Series (Best 2 of 3)

NE10 Championship Baseball Bracket (PDF)

THE 2021 SCHEDULE

As recently announced by the league, the NE10 adopted a divisional format for 2021 – Northeast and Southwest – with all schools slated to play a 24-game conference schedule. Series will consist of four games on weekends in doubleheader format, while schools maintain the ability to extend the weekend series to three days or alter the days in which they play in accordance with academic calendars. New Haven will play in the Southwest Division which is made up of seven teams including Adelphi, American International, Le Moyne, Pace, Saint Rose and Southern Connecticut. In addition to its 24-game conference schedule, New Haven will play three non-divisional dates, including one date against a Northeast Division opponent, Saint Anselm, bringing their total scheduled games for 2021 to 29.

CHARGERS FIFTH IN PRESEASON POLL

In a poll of the conference's 14 head coaches, the New Haven baseball team was selected to finish fifth, among the seven teams in the Southwest Division. The Chargers received 56 points, three shy of a third place tie with Pace and Southern Connecticut. Adelphi and Le Moyne hold the top two positions in the preseason poll, with the Panthers earning 86 points and eight first place votes. Le Moyne garnered 74 points and three first place votes. Southern New Hampshire was a near unanimous choice to win the Northeast Division earning 12 of the 14 possible first place votes and a total of 90 points.

NEW HAVEN REGIONALLY RANKED TO OPEN 2021 SEASON

In the weekly tally conducted by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, New Haven was ranked seventh in the East Region Poll. The poll, which is voted on by a nine-member panel, ranks the top-10 teams in the East Region which is made up of three conferences; The Northeast-10, the East Coast Conference and the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference. Southern New Hampshire was the unanimous No. 1 team in the most recent poll and leads a group of four Northeast-10 teams that make up the top-four in the poll.

UP NEXT

New Haven will take to the road when they play four Southwest Division games against Pace on Saturday, May 1 and Sunday, May 2. Both doubleheaders in Pleasantville, NY will start at Noon. The lone home date remaining on the 2021 Chargers schedule is a doubleheader scheduled against Le Moyne on Wednesday, May 5 at 1:00 pm. You can watch all the action broadcast live on the Charger Sports Network on NE10 NOW. Live stats will also be available via NewHavenChargers.com.