GAME DAY INFORMATION DATE: May 13, 2021 LOCATION: Dick Rockwell Field Syracuse, NY   GAME DAY LINKS LIVE STATS LIVE VIDEO

NEWS NEWS ROSTER ROSTER SCHEDULE SCHEDULE STATS 2021 STATS

THE LEAD

A walkoff win leads to a long bus ride, but that's just fine for the New Haven baseball team. By virtue of their thrilling 4-3 win over Pace in Tuesday's NE10 Southwest Division Game, the 3rd-seeded Chargers (9-9) advanced to play 2nd-seeded Le Moyne in a Southwest Division semifinal playoff game on Thursday, May 13, 2021. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 pm in Syracuse. Le Moyne (14-7) beat Saint Rose 6-2 to advance to this game. Ironically, New Haven and Le Moyne have not played this season. They had doubleheaders scheduled for March 28 and May 5. However, both were postponed. The winner of that game advances to the best of three Southwest Division Championship Series starting Sunday, May 17. AIC and Adelphi play in the other semifinal game. All the action from Dick Rockwell Field on the campus of Le Moyne will be broadcast live on the Charger Sports Network on NE10 NOW. Live stats will also be available via NewHavenChargers.com. 

SOUTHWEST DIVISION PLAYOFF SEEDING

                           NE10    Win Pct.

1.      Adelphi        14-7    .667    

2.      Le Moyne    13-7    .650

3.      New Haven    8-7    .533    

4.      AIC        10-11    .476                

5.      SCSU        7-9    .438

6.      Pace        9-13    .409

7.      Saint Rose    6-13    .316

CLICK HERE FOR THE NE10 BASEBALL PLAYOFF BRACKET

UPDATED SPECTATOR POLICY

With the support of the Northeast-10 Conference Presidents, the University of New Haven updated its Spring 2021 Spectator Policy in attempts to allow parents of our athletes to attend contests this spring. The new policy (as of April 9) states that University of New Haven students, faculty and staff may attend by showing cleared status in CoVerified. In addition, each participating University of New Haven student-athlete is allowed two (2) off-campus guests per contest, provided that prior to arrival, off-campus guests must provide proof of full vaccination or submit a negative CoVID-19 test result from within 72 hours of the start of the contest. Full vaccination is defined as two week post receiving a second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or the first dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

SERIES HISTORY VS LE MOYNE

UNH and Le Moyne have met 44 times with the Chargers holding a slim 24-20 all-time advantage. The two teams have split the last 10 outings, however, Le Moyne has won the last five times these two teams have met. The Dolphins do own a 15-9 mark in NE10 games as well. The last outing was on April 23, 2019 where Le Moyne beat UNH 8-3. The Dolphins jumped out to a 7-0 lead after three innings and outhit the Blue and Gold 12-4 for the game. Current Charger Noah Budzik (Cromwell, Conn./Cromwell) went 1-for-2 with an RBI. UNH's last win came on April 14, 2018 in a 2-1 11-inning thriller. The first meeting between the two schools came on May 20, 1977 that saw UNH win by a 20-3 score.

SCOUTING THE CHARGERS

The Chargers are led offensively by former NE10 Rookie of the Week Robert Taylor (Wolcott, Conn./The Gunnery). Taylor leads the Blue and Gold having ended the regular season with a .404 batting average and seven doubles. He is tied for the team lead with 12 RBIs. Taylor is tied with Andrew Bianco (Kings Park, N.Y./Kings Park) and Tyler Wells (Danville, Vt./St. Johnsbury Academy) with 12 RBIS. Bianco ended the regular season second on the team in batting average, hitting at a .368 clip. His 21 hits and four home runs led the team. Noah Budzk was third on the Chargers with a .339 batting average through the end of the regular season. On the mound, Thomas Eletto (Locust Valley, N.Y./Locust Valley) went 2-0 in his four starts and pitched to a 1.33 ERA. He had a 18-2 strikeout to walk ratio and pitched an effective five innings not factoring in the decision against Pace in the opening round. The Chargers recorded eight wins from six different pitchers. Eletto and Brandon LaManna (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown West) ended with two apiece, while Izaiya Mestre (Pittsfield, Mass./Taconic), Andrew Cain (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford), Cam Guarino (Falmouth, Maine/Falmouth), and Bryan Pazulski (Media, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara) each collected one win. LaManna's wins came in relief, including picking up the win over Pace in the first-round playoff game with 2.2 innings of scoreless relief. LaManna also ended the regular season with two saves, didn't allow an earned run, and had a 15-1 strikeout to walk ratio.

SCOUTING THE DOLPHINS

The Dolphins are led offensively by a pair of .300 hitters. Drew Carroll leads the team with a .318 average and his 21 hits also lead the Dolphins. He is second with 19 runs scored and his 13 RBIs have him fourth for the 2021 season. Ty Syta is the other Dolphin to be hitting over .300. He has 17 hits, four doubles, and his three home runs has him tied for the team lead in that category. On the mound, Le Moyne's top two pitchers are Joe Vail and Jacob Maser. Vail pitched to a 2.77 ERA in his 26 innings pitched. He made five starts and his 38 strikeouts both lead the team in those categories. Most impressive is that teams are hitting only .163 against him. Jacom Maser went 3-2 with a 4.55 ERA in his team-leading 27.2 innings pitched. His 37 punchouts are second on the team and opposing batters hit only .231 against him. Neither pitched in the win over Saint Rose. Max Parker and Sam DiGeorge helped Le Moyne advance to the second round, holding Saint Rose to two runs.

NE10 ALL CONFERENCE AWARDS

The New Haven baseball team had five players receive eight honors, including Thomas Eletto (Locust Valley, N.Y./Locust Valley) being named the 2021 NE10 Southwest Division Pitcher of the Year and to the First Team, as the league announced its baseball postseason awards on Wednesday, May 11, 2021. The other Chargers to earn NE10 honors included - Robert Taylor (Wolcott, Conn./The Gunnery) (First Team), Noah Budzik (Cromwell, Conn./Cromwell) (Second Team), Andrew Bianco (Kings Park, N.Y./Kings Park) (Third Team), Brandon Lamanna (Third Team), while Bianco and Taylor were also named to the All-Rookie Team as well.

TAYLOR NAMED NE10 ROOKIE OF WEEK FOR WEEK SEVEN

New Haven outfielder Robert Taylor (Wolcott, Conn./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

The winner of today's game will advance to the best-of-three Southwest Division Championship Series starting on Sunday, May 17, 2021. Adelphi hosts AIC in the other semifinal game. The two teams left standing will play a doubleheader on Sunday, May 17 at the highest-seeded team. If a deciding game three is necessary, it will be played on Monday, May 18.