Mount St. Mary's (12-24) at Bucknell (20-24)
Depew Field, Lewisburg, Pa.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011, 3:30 p.m.

Mount St. Mary's (12-24) at UMBC
Baseball Factory Field, Baltimore, Md.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011,6:00 p.m.

MOUNT UPDATE: The Mount saw its losing streak extended to 11 games with a four-game sweep at the hands of Sacred Heart this past Thursday and Friday.  The Mount lost 5-3 and 10-2 in the opening twinbill before falling 7-0 and 10-8 in a pair of games on Friday.  Tommy Flynn leads the Mount in average (.355), runs scored (31), doubles (13), triples (2), home runs (4) and stolen bases (13).  Andrew Caron is hitting .339 with a team-high 26 RBI while Zach Helman is third on the team with a .312 average.  On the mound, Max Brittenham has been a workhorse, tossing six consecutive complete games.  He is 3-4 with a 2.25 ERA in 68.0 innings this season.  Reliever Dan Horner has been solid out of the bullpen, posting a 3.24 ERA in 33.1 innings.

ABOUT THE BISON:  Bucknell took three of four games over the weekend against Lehigh to improve to 20-24 overall and 7-9 in the Patriot League.  Gerry Runyan leads the Bison with a .349 average while Drew Constable is hitting .331.  Doug Shribman is the top power threat, hitting .308 with 10 doubles, 15 home runs and 43 RBI.  Bob Donato has 10 home runs and 32 RBI.  On the mound, reliever Alex Cillo is 3-1 with a 2.65 ERA in 34.0 innings of work.  The top starter is Ryan Ebner, who is 5-1 with a 4.56 ERA.

THE ALL-TIME SERIES vs. BUCKNELL:  Bucknell holds a 15-5 lead in the all-time series that dates back to 1990.  The Bison posted a 22-9 win over the Mount on March 18, 2009, in the last meeting between the two squads.  Bucknell has won five of the past six meetings between the two teams. 

LAST MEETING:  Mount St. Mary's led 5-1 heading into the top of the fifth inning, but Bucknell scored 10 times in the fifth en route to a 22-9 win.  The two teams combined for eight home runs in the game.  Shane Eyler went 4-for-4 with a home run and three RBI to pace the Mountaineers while Andrew Loucks was 6-for-7 with two doubles, three runs and four RBI for the Bison. 

ABOUT THE RETRIEVERS:  UMBC has lost 10 of its past 11 games and enters the contest against the Mount with a 5-26 record.  Rick Phillips leads the team with a .324 average while Max Himmelstein is hitting .304.  UMBC has struggled on the offensive side, hitting .257 as a team while averaging 3.71 runs per game.  On the mound, reliever Josh Dick leads the team with a 4.02 ERA while Austin Drewyer is the top starter at 2-6 with a 4.78 ERA.

THE ALL-TIME SERIES vs. UMBC:  UMBC holds a 27-11 advantage in the all-time series against the Mount since the move to NCAA Division I in 1989.  The teams have split the past five meetings with each squad winning at home, including the Mount's 8-6 win at Straw Family Stadium on March 29.  Last year, UMBC posted a 13-7 home victory over the Mount on April 28.

LAST MEETING:  Sam Nott hit a pinch-hit two-run double in the eighth to lift Mount St. Mary's past UMBC 8-6 in non-conference baseball action on March 29.  Trailing 6-5 with two outs and runners on second and third in the eighth, Nott entered the game as a pinch hitter and lined a 1-2 pinch off the chalk in front of the third base bag and stayed fair down the left field line to plate Kyle Kane and Brandon Scott with the tying and go-ahead runs to give the Mount a 7-6 lead. Mark Quaranta added an RBI single to increase the lead and Andrew Schrock allowed a runner to reach on an error, but closed out the game to earn the save.  Zach Helman paced the Mountaineers with a 3-for-4 performance with two RBIs, two runs scored and a home run. Tommy Flynn posted two hits, including a home run and two RBIs while Mark Quaranta finished the game with three hits, an RBI and a run scored in the winning effort.  Max Himmstein fueled the Retrievers with two hits, two RBIs and two runs scored while Kevin Kean posted two hits, a run scored and an RBI in the loss.

GOING THE DISTANCE:  Senior right-hander Max Brittenham has tossed six consecutive complete games, posting a 3-3 record with a 2.12 ERA over that span.  Brittenham has struck out 22 batters while walking nine in 51.0 innings over the five games.  He is the first Mount pitcher to have six consecutive complete games since Dustin Pease in 2004 while the six total complete games are the most by a Mount pitcher since Pease had six in the 2004 season.  The single-season record for complete games is nine set by Tim Sheehan in 1991.  Brittenham's 2.25 ERA would set the Mount's single-season record since moving to NCAA Division I in 1989.  The record is 2.37 set by Mike Matta in 2007.

HORNER CHIPPING IN:  Reliever Dan Horner is 1-2 with a 3.24 ERA in 11 appearances (1 start) this season for the Mountaineers.  Horner is holding the opposition to a .211 average this year, allowing just 27 hits in 33.1 innings of work.  The .211 opponents batting average would set a new Mount St. Mary's record.  The current record is held by Kent Worthington, who held opponents to a .223 average last season. 

BATS ARE SILENT:  The Mountaineers have gone silent during the team's 11-game losing streak.  Over the 11 games, the Mount is hitting .209 as a team while averaging 2.36 runs per game.  The Mount has a slugging percentage of .316 with an on-base percentage of .268 during the losing streak.  Shane Eyler (.314) is the only Mount player hitting over .300 over the past 11 games.

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 two hits shy of becoming the second player in Mount history to reach 200 career hits.  Eyler is tied with Eric Smith (2003-07) for second place with 198 career this at the Mount.  Josh Vittek (2005-08) holds the school record with 231 hits.

CAREER NUMBERS:  The Mount has several players among the all-time career leaders...Andrew Caron is second all-time in on-base percentage (.443), ninth in slugging percentage (.513) and 11^th in batting average (.321)...Shane Eyler is second in at bats (622), fourth in runs scored (113), tied for second in hits (198), Tied for 10^th in doubles (30), fourth in home runs (25), fourth in RBI (109), third in total bases (303), 15^th in hitting (.318) and seventh in stolen bases (20)...Kyle Kane is 14^th in batting (.318), sixth in at bats (578), seventh in runs (102), fifth in hits (184), tied for 10^th in doubles (30), ninth in RBI (95) and seventh in total bases (254)...Tommy Flynn is tied for 13^th in runs scored (88) and fourth in steals (34)...Max Brittenham is eighth in ERA (4.86), tied for second in wins (12), tied for 9^th in appearances (57), fifth in career starts (33), fifth in complete games (8), fourth in strikeouts (165) and third in innings pitched (248.1).

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 will visit Long Island for a four-game Northeast Conference series beginning with a nine-inning game on Friday, April 29.