Pace will host Adelphi today at 1 pm in the first round of the Northeast-10 playoffs.
The Setters (21-17, 12-8) are the No. 1 seed in the southwest division of the conference. The two teams met on March 25 and the Setters were victorious 11-1.
Since then, the Panthers are a much improved team. Additionally, they are very dangerous team with Jonathon Mulford on the mound. He last pitched on Saturday, so this would be only three days rest for him. Coach Scala is opting to pitch sophomore T.J. Santiago.
He’s had a tough year, he is currently 0-4 with a 5.28 ERA. He has allowed 67 hits in 46 innings. He is trending up, however. Over his past three starts he has gone six, five and 6.2 innings. He has allowed only six runs during that stretch with 13 strikeouts.
Pace hit .258 as a team this season, but they have three regulars over .300. Tom Midolo is leading the way at .316 with a .363 OBP. He smacked five home runs and drove in 19 runs. Jon Kukura hit .315 with a solid .380 OBP. He scored 24 runs. Also, they have Nick LoBello who hit a bases clearing double against Adelphi in that March 25 game. LoBello is hitting .313 with an impressive .393 OBP. Oddly, he has scored only 13 runs on the season.
The team had an ERA of 4.12–which is nothing special for a wood bat conference. Their ace, Josh Garran, had a 2.08 ERA, though, and held the opposition to a .209 AVG.
The Panthers can definitely pull off the upset.
Their offense has been peaking. The team average is .268, but their strength is in the middle of the order with the trio of Nick Zito (.368 AVG, 53 H, .405 OBP), Rob Vani (.348 AVG, 48 H, .414 OBP) and Donato Signore (.293 AVG, .371 OBP, .415 SLG).
The bullpen of Nick Batas, Ricky Van Allen and Mike Cranston is a strength. They can each throw multiple innings so if it is a battle of the bullpens they are in good shape.