The Suffolk University Baseball team will open the 2012 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament with a 6:30pm showdown with the Albertus Magnus College Falcons on Tuesday evening.
The Rams wrapped up the regular season with a 17-20-1 overall mark, while finishing with the number four seed in this year's tournament with an 11-5 mark in league play. Albertus the number five seed was 7-7 in GNAC play and stands 13-19 on the year. Both teams split an April 14 double header with the Rams taking game one, 4-2 behind a complete game three hitter by freshman Josh Desai (Shrewsbury, Mass.). The Falcons were 11-4 victors in the nightcap.
After a slow start to the season, the Rams offense finally got going over the final weekend scoring 63 runs combined in back to back double headers. Suffolk will look to sophomore Jake Cintolo (Wrentham, Mass.) to pace the offense. Cintolo enters the playoffs with team-highs in batting average (.365) and slugging percentage (.547), while his 13 doubles are the second most in the conference. Junior Chris Stanley (Orange County, Calif.) has come on of late hitting safely in 17 of his last 20 contests as his .355 batting average is second on the team. Junior Mike Cunningham (Syosset, N.Y.) is currently riding a seven-game hitting streak, while collecting multi-hit games in four of the last eight games he's appeared in. On the mound, Suffolk will turn to Desai and junior Jhonneris Mendez (Boston, Mass.). Mendez was named NCAA Division-III Pitcher of the Week on April 12 after his no-hitter over Lasell College earlier that week. Mendez is 4-3 on the hill this year for the Rams, while also recording a save. He has fanned 38 hitters in 42 innings pitched this year.
The winner of Tuesday's game will travel to St. Joseph's College of Maine for a 4:00pm showdown with the top-seeded Monks on Thursday afternoon. The remainder of the double elimination tournament will be played this weekend at Pierce Field in Providence, Rhode Island and will be hosted by Johnson & Wales University.
For complete tournament details, click here