LOUDONVILLE, NY - Siena Baseball begins a stretch where they play 14 of their next 17 games at home when the Saints host Central Connecticut in non-conference action at 3 p.m. at Connors Park. Head coach
Tony Rossi enters today's contest in search of his 900th career victory.
A.J. Kanell has
the call of the game online at SienaAllAccess.com. Viewers can catch all the action online for $7.95 via their laptops, desktops, and tablets, as well as on iOS (Apple) devices including those that support Adobe Flash 10.1 or greater (Android devices). Special features to the Siena All-Access platform include live stats, and pertinent related twitter and ticker updates. Additionally, all games are archived upon their conclusion and can viewed at any time thereafter through the on-demand feature.
Now in his milestone 50th season at the helm of the Siena Baseball (9-22) program, Rossi is the longest tenured head coach in NCAA Division I Baseball history, and the second longest active tenured college baseball coach at any level, trailing only Division II Bentley's Bob DeFelice who is in his 51st season. Rossi is third all-time in NCAA Baseball history in seasons coached, trailing only Division III coach Gordie Gillespie (59 seasons) and DeFelice. Rossi, who recently coached his 2,000th career game at Siena, is the winningest coach in both Siena College and Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference history in any sport.
The Saints enter today's contest looking to build some momentum heading into this weekend's pivotal conference series vs. Quinnipiac after being swept this past weekend at Manhattan. Several players put noteable streaks on the line in today's contest, with
Zach Durfee currently holding a 19-game on-base streak, while
Brian Kelly has reached base safely in 17 games and
Devan Kruzinski in 12 straight.
Central Connecticut (14-12) has won just one game away from home so far this season. The Blue Devils are coming off an NEC series win over Sacred Heart this weekend, in which they took two of three from their Constitution State rivals. CCSU is an impressive 5-1 against MAAC foes so far this season, having swept a three-game series from Saint Peter's while also claiming victories over both Niagara and Quinnipiac. Their only loss has come at the hands of Fairfield.
Central Connecticut has captured three of the first four all-time meetings between the programs. The Blue Devils secured a 7-4 win in last year's matchup in New Britain.
