Mount St. Mary's (12-20, 6-14 NEC) vs. Sacred Heart (17-18, 9-7 NEC)
E.T. Straw Family Stadium, Emmitsburg, Md.
Thursday, April 21, 2011, 1:00 p.m. (DH, 9-inning game followed by 7-inning game)
Friday, April 22, 2011, 12:00 p.m. (DH, 7-inning game followed by 9-inning game)

MOUNT UPDATE: Mount St. Mary's has lost seven in a row to fall to 12-20 overall and 6-14 in the NEC.  Last weekend, the Mount scored just six runs in a four-game sweep at the hands of Bryant.  The Mount hit .175 as a team in the four-game set.  Andrew Caron was 4-for-7 (.571) at the plate with six walks in the Bryant series while Max Brittenham tossed a complete game in the 3-1 loss in the series opener.  Brittenham has pitched a complete game in each of his past five starts.  Caron leads the Mount with a .354 average and 25 RBI.  Tommy Flynn, who led off with a solo homer in the Mount's 5-2 loss in the final game of the Bryant series, is hitting .349 while leading the team in runs (28), doubles (10), triples (2), home runs (3), slugging percentage (.560) and steals (13).  Brittenham is the top starter with a 3-3 record and a 2.29 ERA in 59.0 innings of work.

ABOUT THE PIONEERS:  Sacred Heart lost  to Rhode Island, 4-3, in 10 innings on Tuesday to fall to 17-18 on the season.  The Pioneers, however, are coming off a four-game sweep of Wagner last weekend in NEC play and are tied for third in the conference with a 9-7 record.  Sacred Heart is hitting .299 as a team and is led by J.J. Edwards, who has a .383 average.  Rob Griffifth is hitting .344 with eight doubles and a team-high 29 RBI while John Murphy has driven in 28 runs.  On the mound, Nick Leiningen is the top starter with a 3-2 record and a 4.14 ERA in 45.2 innings of work. 

THE ALL-TIME SERIES vs. SACRED HEART:  Sacred Heart swept last year's four-game series with the Mount and now holds a 19-12 lead in the all-time series between the two schools.  The Mount has lost seven of its past nine games against the Pioneers.  In 2009, the Mount split a four-game series at E.T. Straw Family Stadium and is 7-6 all-time at home against Sacred Heart. 

LAST YEAR'S SERIES:  Sacred Heart swept the four-game series last year against the Mount by capturing a pair of doubleheaders.  On April 23, Sacred Heart cruised to 12-0 and 14-4 wins over the Mountaineers.  The next day, Sacred Heart posted 5-2 and 3-2 victories.  Kent Worthington struck out 11 in 7.1 innings while allowing one run in a no-decision in the Mount's 3-2 loss in the final game of the series.  Josh Winter went 5-for-12 (.417) with two doubles and four RBI in the four-game set in which the Mount scored just eight runs.

CAREER NUMBERS vs. SACRED HEART:  Senior Max Brittenham is 1-0 with a 5.40 ERA in three appearances against Sacred Heart...he has 10 strikeouts in 13.1 innings of work...Shane Eyler has a .317 average (13-for-41) with three doubles and nine runs scored in 12 games...Tommy Flynn is hitting .435 (10-for-23) in seven games against SHU...Kyle Kane has a .300 average (12-for-40) with two home runs and eight RBI against the Pioneers...Brett Moore has a 1.50 ERA in one career start vs. SHU...Josh Winter is 10-for-24 (.417) with two home runs and seven RBI in eight games played against the Pioneers.

GOING THE DISTANCE:  Senior right-hander Max Brittenham has tossed five consecutive complete games, posting a 3-2 record with a 2.14 ERA over that span.  Brittenham has struck out 18 batters while walking nine in 42.0 innings over the five games.  He is the first Mount pitcher to throw a complete game in five consecutive starts since Dustin Pease in 2004.  His five complete games this year are the most by a Mount pitcher since Pease had five in 2006.

BATS ARE SILENT:  The Mountaineers have gone silent during the team's seven-game losing streak.  Over the seven games, the Mount is hitting .199 as a team and has scored just 13 runs (1.9/game).  The Mountaineers have tallied just 40 hits over the seven-game span and have a slugging percentage of .274 during the losing streak.   

FLYNN ON THE BASEPATHS:  Leadoff hitter Tommy Flynn leads the Mount and the Northeast Conference with 13 stolen bases.  Flynn, who is fourth all-time at the Mount with 34 career steals, is five steals shy of matching the school's single-season record of 18 set by Matt Rueckert in both 1991 and 1992.  Wayne Crowley (1997-00) holds the career record with 39 steals.

EYLER CLOSING IN ON 200:  Senior Shane Eyler is seven hits shy of becoming the second player in Mount history to reach 200 career hits.  Eyler is third all-time at the Mount with 193 hits, behind Josh Vittek (231, 2005-08) and Eric Smith (198, 2003-07).  For his career, Eyler is hitting .316 in 175 games played.

CAREER NUMBERS:  The Mount has several players among the all-time career leaders...Andrew Caron is the all-time leader in on-base percentage (.448), seventh in slugging percentage (.524) and 10^th in batting average (.326)...Shane Eyler is second in at bats (610), fourth in runs scored (112), third in hits (193), 13^th in doubles (29), fourth in home runs (24), fourth in RBI (106), third in total bases (294), and seventh in stolen bases (20)...Kyle Kane is 12^th in batting (.320), sixth in at bats (568), seventh in runs (100), fifth in hits (182), tied for 10^th in doubles (30), ninth in RBI (94) and seventh in total bases (249)...Tommy Flynn is 15^th in runs scored (85) and fourth in steals (34)...Max Brittenham is ninth in ERA (4.96), tied for second in wins (12), 10^th in appearances (56), fifth in career starts (32), tied for fifth in complete games (7), fourth in strikeouts (161) and third in innings pitched (239.1).

HELMAN NAMED NEC PLAYER OF THE WEEK:  Zach Helman was named the Northeast Conference's Player of the Week on March 21.  Helman hit .632 in helping the Mount to a 4-2 record last week.  The senior third baseman was 8-for-12 (.667) at the plate in the Mount's four-game series at Wagner.  He was 4-for-4 in the Mount's 11-4 win in the third game against the Seahawks.  Helman was 4-for-7 in the Mount's doubleheader sweep of UMES earlier in the week.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE NAVY GAME?:  The Mount's game against Navy on March 30^th was called in the top of the eighth inning due to the weather.  The game will be picked up with the score tied at 5-5 with a runner on second and no outs in the top half of the inning.  The stats from the Navy game will not count until it is completed.  The make-up date has yet to be determined.

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:  Mount St. Mary's returns to action on Tuesday, April 26, at 3:30 p.m. at Bucknell.