LOUDONVILLE, NY – Siena and UAlbany are ready to rekindle their rivalry on the baseball diamond with a four-game home-and-home weekend wraparound series.
 
Siena (10-22) was originally scheduled to host three of the four games, but will now evenly split the series with UAlbany (9-20) which has been adjusted due to weather. The Saints will host the first and final games at 3 p.m. on Friday and Tuesday, respectively, with the Great Danes now hosting a doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m. after the scheduled Sunday game at Siena was adjusted due to the inclement weather forecast. The twin bill Saturday will feature a seven-inning opening game followed by a nine-inning nightcap.
 
Siena hopes to utilize its final non-conference weekend series as a springboard for the stretch run. The Saints built some momentum by taking two of three against Mount St. Mary's two weekends ago, but dropped their most recent series last weekend at Manhattan. Siena currently stands 3.5 games out of the sixth and final MAAC Tournament spot with 12 league games remaining.
 
This weekend also features a welcome return to the friendly confines of Connors Park for a Saints squad which has been hampered by the poor early season weather. Siena has to date played just three of its 10 scheduled home games to this juncture on campus, with six contests being moved off-site to turf complexes, and an additional game postponed.
 
For the third straight Friday, the Saints will look to open the weekend victorious behind recently minted Game One starter Sam Falace. The red-shirt junior, now at full strength for the first time following an injury-plagued start to his career, looks to build off a sensational stretch. Over his last three appearances, Falace has allowed just nine hits and only two earned runs while striking out 17 spanning 17.1 innings of work, punctuated by his first two collegiate wins.
 
Noah Brooks and Steven Ramirez have also served as recent sparkplugs for the offense. Over his last 11 games, Brooks has connected at a .406 (13-32) clip, raising his season batting average 114 points to a respectable .250. Meanwhile the freshman Ramirez is hitting .357 (10-28) over his 11 games with 10 RBI, while also working eight walks to fuel a .514 on-base percentage. Ramirez now ranks fifth in the MAAC with a .458 on-base percentage, complimenting a .304 overall average.
 
UAlbany enters the weekend having played better of late, winning five of their last seven following a 4-18 start. Matthew Mariano (1.09 ERA – second nationally, .190 opponents' batting average) and Dylan Banner (3.73 ERA) have led the Great Danes out of the bullpen and rotation, respectively, while Michael Maggio paces the offense with a .326 batting average.
 
Following a 42-year hiatus in the series, the crosstown rivals separated by less than eight miles meet for the third straight season. UAlbany has captured five of the first six since the rivalry was rekindled, while averaging 15 runs in their victories.