Mount St. Mary's (5-6, 0-0 NEC) at Wagner (1-10, 0-0 NEC)
Friday, March 18, 2011, 1 pm
Saturday, March 19, 2011, 1 pm (doubleheader)
Sunday, March 20, 2011, 1 pm
Richmond County Bank Ballpark, Staten Island, N.Y.

MOUNT UPDATE: Mount St. Mary's swept a doubleheader at Maryland-Eastern Shore on Tuesday to improve to 5-6 on the season. The Mount won the opener, 8-7, in 10 innings, before capturing the nightcap, 15-. Mark Quaranta provided the heroics in game one, tying the score with an RBI double in the eighth and driving home the winning run with a double in the top of the 10^th. The Mount scored eight runs in the top of the first inning to take control of the second game. Tommy Flynn went 3-for-5 with five runs scored while Michael Foster was 5-for-5 at the plate in the game. For the year, Sam Nott leads the Mount with a .394 average while Foster is hitting .368. Andrew Caron paces the team with 10 RBI. On the mound, Vincent Molesky is the top starter (1-0, 1.93 ERA) while Max Brittenham (0-1, 2.81 ERA) has been solid this as well.

ABOUT THE SEAHAWKS: Wagner has lost eight in a row and comes into the series with a 1-10 record. The Seahawks most recently were swept in a three-game series at Central Florida, falling by scores of 13-4, 5-1 and 2-1. Wagner has struggled at the plate, hitting .201 as a team while averaging 2.45 runs per game. Seth Boyd leads Wagner with a .316 average while Kevin McDonnell is hitting .275 with a home run and a team-high six RBI. Mark Holmes is the top starter with a 4.86 ERA in three starts.

LAST YEAR'S SERIES: Mount St. Mary's won three of four last year against Wagner at Straw Family Stadium on campus. The Mount won the opening game, 12-2, before splitting the Saturday doubleheader, losing 5-4 and winning 4-3. Mount St. Mary's cruised to a 14-4 win in the final game of the four-game set. Andrew Caron went 5-for-9 with two home runs and seven RBI to pace the Mount offense in the series while Shane Eyler hit .500 (7-for-14) with two home runs, five runs scored and five RBI. Kent Worthington struck out 10 in 7.1 innings to earn the win in the final game of the series.

THE ALL-TIME SERIES: Wagner holds a 36-28 lead in the all-time series with Mount St. Mary's. The Mountaineers, however, are 13-7 against the Seahawks since 2006. The Mount won three of four last season against Wagner at home. The Mount is 9-23 all-time on the road against Wagner, but is 5-3 over its past two trips (2007 and 2009) to Staten Island.

CAREER NUMBERS vs. WAGNER: Senior Shane Eyler owns a .362 career average against Wagner with four home runs, nine RBI and 12 runs scored in 13 games played...Tommy Flynn is hitting .276 in 10 games vs. Wagner...Kyle Kane has struggled against Wagner pitching, hitting .222 with two RBI in 13 games played...Max Brittenham is 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA and 10 strikeouts in two career starts vs. the Seahawks...Brett Moore is 1-2 with a 0.87 ERA in four career appearances against Wagner.

START OF NEC PLAY: The Mount's series with Wagner starts the team's 22^nd season in the Northeast Conference. The Mount is 176-273 all-time in NEC regular season games, including 74-150 on the road. The Mount has advanced to the NEC Tournament in 1997, 2007 and 2008, winning the title in 2008. The Mountaineers have posted a winning season in conference play in five of the past six years.

THE FOUR-GAME SERIES: The Northeast Conference went to four-game series for conference play in 2007. Since then, the Mount has had 26 of the 29 series go a full four games. In those 26 four-game series, the Mount went 4-0 on five occasions, won three of four six times, split the series nine times, lost three of four five times and was swept just once. The Mount has had four four-game series with Wagner, sweeping the Seahawks in 2007, splitting the set in 2008, losing three of four in 2009 and winning three of four in 2010.

FOSTER ON HIT STREAK: Michael Foster has a seven-game hit streak for the Mount. The junior infielder is hitting .448 over that stretch (13-for-29) with five runs scored and seven RBI. For the year, Foster is second on the team with a .368 average.

BULLPEN NUMBERS: Head coach Scott Thomson has received good results when calling on the bullpen. The Mount's relievers have a combined 3.53 ERA this season in 43.1 innings of work. Dan Horner leads the way, posting a 1-0 record and a 0.00 ERA in four appearances. Horner picked up the win in the Mount's 8-7 10-inning game at UMES on Tuesday, allowing just two hits and no runs in 5.1 innings of relief. The Mount has had 10 different pitchers appear in relief this year.

ROAD WEARY: The Mount will not have a home game until Friday, March 25, against Quinnipiac. The team's first 16 games will be played away from the friendly confines of Straw Family Stadium. The Quinnipiac game starts a 10-game homestand for the Mountaineers that includes four-game series with the Bobcats and Fairleigh Dickinson along with single games versus UMBC and Navy.

CLOSE CALLS: Five of the Mount's 11 games this season have been decided by one run with the Mount posting a 3-2 record in those contests. The Mount owns one-run wins against Miami (Ohio) (3-2, 10 innings), Central Florida (2-1) and Maryland-Eastern Shore (8-7, 10 innings).

PRESEASON PICKS: The Mount was tabbed to finish in sixth place in the annual Northeast Conference Preseason Coaches Poll. Central Connecticut State was picked to finish first, followed by Monmouth, Bryant, Wagner, Sacred Heart and the Mount.

UP NEXT: The Mount heads to Bucknell on Wednesday, March 23, for a mid-week game before hosting Quinnipiac for a four-game set beginning on March 25.