Newburgh, N.Y. –The Mount Saint Mary College Baseball team gets set to open the 2020 campaign with two games at St. Mary's College of Maryland. The Knights will open up the season with Washinton College (Md.) at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday before concluding the weekend with a matchup with the host Seahawks at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday.

At A Glance: The Knights are coming off a 2019 season that saw them post a 13-17 overall record and 7-11 in Skyline Conference play. The Mount missed the Skyline Conference Championship by two games last season.

Mount Saint Mary returns 29 players from last season's team and welcomes nine newcomers to the fold for the 2020 season. The Mount brings back its entire starting lineup from last season and only lost two pitchers who contributed significant innings.

Pitchers: Mount Saint Mary welcomes back 2019 second team All-Skyline honoree senior John Santana (Warwick, N.Y.), who will split time between the mound and the field, paced the Knights with 27 strikeouts in 26 innings pitched.

The Knights will lean on seniors Alexander Maher (Mineola, N.Y.) and Sal Rizzo (Smithtown, N.Y.) for important innings in 2019 along with returners Matt Barbieri (New Paltz, N.Y.), Matthew Borriello (Montgomery, N.Y.). Juniors Robert Brust (Shirley, N.Y.) and Michael DiGiovanni (Shirley, N.Y.) also return along with sophomore Anthony Caminitti (Mahopac, N.Y.) and junior Anthony Collura (Franklin Square, N.Y.).

Head Coach Steve Sosler will also turn to a talented crop of newcomers for innings that includes: junior two-way Oswego State transfer Anthony Pacifico (Newburgh, N.Y.) and freshmen Christopher Snyder (Islip, N.Y.), Michael Paolo (Milton, N.Y.), Lukas Naley (Montrose, N.Y.) and James Murphy (Montgomery, N.Y.).

Catcher: Juniors Jaiden Bonet (Bronx, N.Y.) and Brust return for the Knights behind the dish in 2020.

Sophomore Coleman Barnes (Goshen, N.Y.) as well as Paolo and senior Michael Doxey (Highland, N.Y.) will also vie for innings behind the dish.

Infield: The Knights welcome back a talented infield group highlighted by Santana who hit .367 as a junior and was 9-for-11 in stolen base attempts while being named second team All-Skyline Conference.

Senior Nick Rizzo (Smithtown, N.Y.) returns to the Mount after hitting .361 and tied for the team-high in hits with 30 while swiping eight bags. Junior Steven Mirra (Wallingford, Conn.) hitting .345 with 30 hits and held the team-high on-base percentage of .441. Barbieri returns at first base after hitting .298 and had an on-base percentage of .429.

DiGiovanni and Doxey will also play a strong role in the infield in 2020 while sophomores Liam Merlin (Reading, Mass.) and Devin Tait (Staten Island, N.Y.) will vie for time up the middle for the Knights. Newcomers Brandon Nolasco (Chester, N.Y.) and Connor Toomey (Huntington, N.Y.) will also vie for time on the infield for the Mount.

Outfield: The Knights return Anthony Rizzo (Smithtown, N.Y.), Jack Goodwin (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) and Dominick Marzigliano (Highland Mills, N.Y.) all return from a season ago. Rizzo and Goodwin started a significant amount of games last year and Marzigliano missed the second half of the season with an injury.

Anthony Franco (Franklin Square, N.Y.) will also look to play a key role in the outfield for the Mount while newcomers Donte Iodice (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.), Cullen Roper (Stratford, Conn.) and Pacifico will also vie for time in the 2020 campaign.

Previewing Washington (MD): The Shoreman finished the 2019 season at 28-12 overall and 9-9 in the highly competitive Centennial Conference. Washington College has four players that were named to the 2020 NCAA Division III Players To Watch List by the Collegiate Baseball News.
 
A Look At St. Mary's (MD): The Seahawks concluded the 2019 season with a 8-25-2 overall record and a 2-18-1 record in the Capital Athletic Conference.

The Seahawks were picked tied for fifth in the CAC preseason poll in the six-team league. St. Mary's returns six bats to their starting lineup and eight pitchers who made starts on the mound last season. The starting lineup is highlighted by 2019 All-CAC Second Team selection Bowen Plagge. 

The Schedule: After beginning the season in Maryland, the Knights are scheduled for seven straight home games from February 29 to March 11 before traveling to Florida for the RussMatt Invitational. Mount Saint Mary begins the conference campaign with four straight road doubleheaders. After home doubleheaders against April 4 against Maritime and April 5 against Farmingdale State, the Mount will play their final home doubleheaders of the year against St. Joseph's-Brooklyn and Yeshiva.

Preseason Poll: The Mount was picked eighth by the league's 11 head coaches with 42 points while 2019 conference champion Farmingdale State was picked to win the conference with 96 points and nine first place votes.
 
What's Next: The Knights will play the first home games of the season next weekend as the Mount will play host to Marywood on Saturday afternoon for a 12:00 p.m. doubleheader, followed by a single game contest against Albertus Magnus on Sunday afternoon at 12:00 p.m. All three games will be played at Dutchess Stadium in Fishkill, N.Y.