Newburgh, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Baseball team opens the 2017 season Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader on the road at St. Mary's College of Maryland. The Knights and Seahawks will close the weekend series with a single game on Sunday with Live Stats available for all three contests.
 
At A Glance: Mount Saint Mary opens the season with the Seahawks for the third time in four seasons this weekend and is coming off a 2016 season that saw it post a 14-25 overall record and an 8-8 mark in league play. The Knights advanced to the Opening Round of the Skyline Conference Championship, falling on the road at St. Joseph's-L.I., 6-1.
 
The Knights return just 12 players from the 2016 squad and welcome 20 talented newcomers to the fold for the 2017 campaign. The Mount needs to replace Second Team All-Skyline Conference selection Matt Cahill who hit .333 in 39 games as a senior as well as pitchers Ryan Turton (3.00 ERA), Sean Betterly (2 saves, 11K), Kevin Duffy (5-4, 61.0 IP, 49K) and Chris Wolfe (39.1 IP, 17 K).
 
Pitchers: The Knights welcome back Christopher Ruggiero (Newburgh, N.Y.) and Blake Keenan (Fishkill, N.Y.) as part of the starting rotation with the duo teaming with newcomers John Santana (Wallkill, N.Y.) and Jake Stewart (Wallkill, N.Y.).
 
Ruggiero made five starts for the Mount in 2016, working 18.0 innings and striking out nine batters. Kennan also made five starts, going 1-3 for the Knights, fanning 10 in 22.0 innings of work.
 
Out of the bullpen, the Mount will lean on juniors Ryan Hayes (Robbinsville, N.J.), Joe Pillitteri (Wallkill, N.Y.) and James McCleary (Floral Park, N.Y.), senior Stephan Sookdeo (Carmel, N.Y.) as well as sophomore Christian Spano (Mahopac, N.Y.) for important innings throughout 2017. McCleary posted a 2.84 earned run average in 10 appearances last season, with Pillitteri posting a win and 17 strikeouts in 23.1 innings pitched last season.
 
Spano appeared in six games as a freshman for the Knights, while Sookdeo worked 12 games out of the bullpen in 2016, posting three strikeouts in 17.2 innings pitched.
 
Mount Saint Mary also will look to get innings out of newcomers Alexander Maher (Mineola, N.Y.), Michael Tancredi (Floral Park, N.Y.), Anthony Rizzo (Smithtown, N.Y.) and Sal Rizzo (Smithtown, N.Y.) throughout the 2017 campaign.
 
Outfield: Joey Pugliese (Highland, N.Y.) is the lone returning player among the outfield corps for 2017. He saw time in 25 games in 2016, including 17 starts, recording a pair of doubles and two steals. He drove in six runs and drew six walks for the Knights as a junior.
 
Newcomers Peter Knights (White Plains, N.Y.), Jesse Matuza (Staten Island, N.Y.), Joe Galasso (Plainview, N.Y.), Nick Rizzo (Smithtown, N.Y.), Michael Doxey (Highland, N.Y.), Jonathan Callanan (New Windsor, N.Y.) and Francisco Mojica III (New Windsor, N.Y.) look to make an immediate impact for the Knights in their first year with the program.
 
Infield: The infield unit returns just a pair of players from last year's squad, including Tom Huvane and Keenan. Huvane led the Knights in doubles as a freshman with nine and hit .245 in 34 games in his first collegiate season. He drove in 16 runs for the Mount and was tied for the team lead in home runs with two in 2016. Keenan hit .242 in 37 games a season ago with 10 extra base hits and a .411 slugging percentage. He drew a team-high 31 walks and posted a team best .467 on-base percentage.
 
Santana will alternate time between the mound and the infield as a freshman and the Knights welcome first year players Matthew Kozireski (Montgomery, N.Y.), Braden Perry (Brockport, N.Y) and Kevin Colgan (Islip, N.Y.) as well as transfers Chris McLaren (Conrwall-on-Hudson, N.Y.), Christopher Introcaso (Newburgh, N.Y.) and Alexander Nova (Miami, Fla.).
 
Catcher: Behind the plate, senior Vincenzo Pepe (Middletown, N.Y.) anchors the catching unit after appearing in 30 games last season in his first year with the program. He hit .258 in 89 at-bats, driving in 10 runs. Nicholas Terzulli (Brooklyn, N.Y.) appeared in 11 games as a freshman in 2016 and Tyler Swartz (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) made nine appearances in his first collegiate season. The Knights add junior Kevin Edgar (Southampton, N.Y.) to the unit as a transfer in 2017.
 
Scouting the Seahawks: St. Mary's stands at 0-2 in 2017 after dropping a pair of decisions to #6 Randolph Macon on February 11. Lucas Craft went 3-for-5 with a pair of runs for the Seahawks over the two game set with Dan McCann striking out two in 2.0 innings of relief work.
 
Last Meeting: The Mount was swept by St. Mary's to open the 2016 season, falling 7-2, 6-2 and 5-2. Keenan collected two hits and scored a run in the middle game of the series and Pepe closed game three of the set 2-for-4 for the Knights.
 
What's Next: After the trip to Maryland, Mount Saint Mary is scheduled to play Albertus Magnus on February 25 and Baruch on February 26 at Dutchess Stadium in Fishkill, N.Y.