History will be made in Florida Friday night when Siena Baseball Head Coach Tony Rossi becomes just the third head coach in NCAA history – and first at the Division I level – to coach in his milestone 50^th season. The Saints are set to embark upon Rossi's Golden Anniversary when Siena kicks off its 2019 season against UCF at 6 p.m. in Orlando. 
 
Senior ace Tommy Miller draws the opening night assignment for Siena against Furman graduate transfer Grant Schuermann for UCF. Junior righthander and perennial weekend fixture Brendan White is slated to get the nod in the middle game of the three-game series Saturday night at 6 p.m., while senior righthander Dylan D'Anna is scheduled to toe the slab for Sunday's series finale at 1 p.m.
 
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Already the longest tenured head coach in NCAA Division I Baseball history, Rossi is the second longest tenured active college baseball coach at any level, trailing only Division II Bentley's Bob DeFelice who enters his 51^st season this spring. Rossi is third all-time in NCAA Baseball history in seasons coached, trailing just Division III coach Gordie Gillespie (59 seasons) and DeFelice.
 
"We have reason to be optimistic this season, with a nice core of veteran pitchers and a talented incoming freshman class," said Rossi, who enters this season just 10 wins shy of 900 for his career. "How quickly this mix of veterans and newcomers put it all together will dictate the course of the season."
 
Siena will be led by its veteran pitching staff, which is anchored by weekend starters Miller, White, and D'Anna. A 2018 ECAC Second Team All-Star and First Team All-MAAC selection, Miller led the nation with six complete games last spring. A two-time MAAC Pitcher of the Week, he tied for the conference lead with a pair of shutouts, while also ranking second in wins (nine), tied for fifth in strikeouts (84), and sixth in ERA (3.70). The local product from Castleton, New York enters his senior season ranked second all-time in program history in wins (20), fourth in games started (42), sixth in innings pitched (268.0), and eighth in strikeouts (178). The hard-throwing White has displayed pinpoint accuracy over his first two seasons with a 2.83 strikeout-to-walk ratio which is fourth best in program history, while the lanky fireballer D'Anna stands sixth all-time in strikeouts per nine innings at 7.47. Red-shirt senior Ryan Bellomo, senior John Nolan, and junior Matt Pierce are all established presences in the rotation having logged key innings throughout their careers.
 
Seniors infielders Brian Kelly and Matt Hamel headline a young hitting core for the Saints in 2019. A career .305 hitter, Kelly started all 56 games last spring and ranked second on the team with 32 RBI. Meanwhile Hamel enjoyed a breakout campaign in an everyday role, hitting .279 with a .373 on-base percentage. Juniors Jonathan Crimmin (49 starts in 2018) and Zach Durfee (38 starts) add experience to a young group of fielders.
 
Despite a veteran core, Siena will rely heavily on its newcomers this spring which features the largest incoming freshman class in program history. The Saints' 18 freshmen will account for more than half of the Saints' 35-man roster in 2019. Siena's previous largest incoming freshman class was 16 two years ago.  
 
Siena is set to play its first 11 games of 2019 in the Sunshine State, as the Saints open at UCF for the seventh time in nine years. Siena's challenging 56-game regular season slate is highlighted by 15 contests vs. teams which played in the NCAA Tournament last spring. The schedule features 24 games against programs which won 30 or more games, including each of the first 14 contests to open the 2019 season. For the second straight year the Saints are slated to open the season with a 22-game road trip, before returning to the Capital Region for the first time in late March to commence their 19-game home schedule.
 
UCF was predicted to finish fourth in the American Athletic Conference after posting a 35-21 overall record last season, including a 13-10 mark in league action. The Knights were one of the "First Four Teams Out" of last year's NCAA Tournament. Perennial regional power UCF holds a 54-3 advantage all-time over Siena in a series dating back to 1977.