Baseball’s CCC Calendar Begins at Curry Saturday

SUFFOLK at CURRY
Date Time Venue Video Stats - Game 1 Stats - Game 2 Series Last Meeting   Last Suffolk Win Streak	Saturday, March 26 11:00 AM (DH) Valley Diamond Quincy, Mass. CurryAthletics.com GoSuffolkRams.com GoSuffolkRams.com 28-5-1 * April 21, 2021, 3-0 (5) Same W4
* Missing 1970, 1973, 1975 & 1992 seasons

BOSTON – Suffolk baseball starts its Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) campaign Saturday, March 26 at Curry. The league double feature has a game one start time of 11 a.m. 

SOCIAL SAYINGS
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LAST TIME OUT
Suffolk baseball picked up Boston Commons bragging rights as it rocked six triples, the most by any NCAA Division III teams this season, en route to a 16-3 offensive onslaught of cross city rival Emerson Tuesday night at East Boston Memorial Park. 

MORE READING: Baseball Roars Past Emerson, 16-3, Sets Program Triples Record

RAMS RUNDOWN
Suffolk improved to 7-4 on the year after its offensive onslaught of Emerson (16-3) Tuesday.  

The Rams offense is firing on all cylinders with 10-plus runs in six of its 11 games with 102 runs scored total. As a team, the blue-and-gold bats have compiled a slash line of .336/.435/.507. Two everyday hitters hold a .400-plus average at the dish in Harry Painter (.486) and Luke Harder (.419). Harder tops the team in hits (18) to go along with 12 RBI, while Painter paces the pack in RBI (14) on 17 hits. Both have scored 10 runs apiece.  

Christian Seariac (.357, 15 H, 10 RBI, 13 R), Joe Ward (.343, 13 H, 13 RBI, 12 R), Marc Birbiglia (.343, 12 H, 10 RBI, 11 R) and Jonny Gilbride (.308, 12 H, 10 RBI, 13 R) are consistent contributors at the dish as well. 

On the mound, has used eight different pitchers to start and 14 Rams have seen time on the hill overall. Suffolk's staff as combined for a 7.41 ERA with 95 strikeouts over 88.2 innings. George Breslin (3.60 ERA, 5.0 IP, 3 Ks), Shawn Nosky (4.66 ERA, 9.2 ERA, 14 Ks), Steven Rossi (13.2 IP, 12 Ks) and Michael Muscarella (10.0 IP, 13 Ks) are all in the Rams' starting rotation with Garret Roberts (4.0 IP, 0.00 ERA, 5 Ks, 3 saves) the go-to to close out a contest.

COLONELS CATCH UP
After going to 6-3 in the Sunshine State, Curry fell to Bridgewater State, 6-1, in its New England debut Wednesday to bring a 6-4 overall record into Saturday's showdown. 

Four different batters have produced double digits hits over 10 games paced by Conor Hanlon's 14 behind a .467/.568/.733 slash line. The junior outfielder has brought in seven RBI and scored seven himself. Ryan Goonan (.370), Brett Heggs (.323) and Joan Peralta (.370) all have knocked 10 hits. Heggs owns a team-best 11 runs scored, while Goonan has brought in seven. Jason Leonard leads the team in RBI with 10 on seven hits.  

The Colonels have cycled through seven different starters on the hill, three of which have multiple nods in Phil Ledwith, Conor Quinlan and Zachary Wensley. Ledwith holds staff-best numbers in ERA (0.64), innings pitched (14.0) and strikeouts (17). Wensley brings in a sub-1.00 ERA of 0.90 in his 10.0 frames of work with 11 punchouts. Quinlan, meanwhile, has fanned 13 batters in 10.0 innings with a 2.70 ERA. 

INSIDE THE SERIES *

• Since 1968, Suffolk is 28-5-1 all-time against Curry. 
• The Rams have won four games in a row against the Colonels including a 3-0, five-inning shutout in Milton last year, April 21, 2021. 
• There have been three shutouts in the all-time series. Suffolk is 2-1 when a team is kept off the scoreboard in the series. 
• Under Anthony Del Prete, the blue-and-gold sports a 5-1 mark versus Curry.

* The Suffolk, Curry series includes results from 1968, however, the following game-by-game records are missing from 1970, 1973, 1975 and 1992. 

EYES ON THE GAME

CONFERNCE OPENERS

• The Rams fell in their first league outing of the year for the first time in seven seasons a year ago with a 12-4 setback to Gordon. 
• The blue-and-gold is looking to open its CCC campaign in the win column for the first time in program history.
• Suffolk has only begun its CCC calendar on the road and will do so again this season. 
• The Rams have never won a league-debut on the road under Anthony Del Prete's guidance.
• The last time the blue-and-gold secured a conference opener in a true road contest was March 30, 2013 when it bested Emerson, 14-0. 
• Suffolk is 5-1 in its first league outing in the Del Prete era. 
• The Rams have shutout conference competition in game one seven times. 
• The last time Suffolk blanked a league foe in its first conference contest of a campaign was a 7-0 shutout of Norwich March 24, 2019. 

RAMS RECORD

• Suffolk barreled six triples in its 16-3 victory over Emerson Tuesday, March 22. Those six hits good for three-bags mark a new program record, upstaging the previous mark of five, that was set on April 21, 2012 in a 16-1 win over Rivier.
• The six triples in one game are tied with 10 other programs for the second in NCAA Division III baseball history.
• Suffolk is the first DIII team in the country to hit six triples in 2022 and first to do so since Gwynedd Mercy set the NCAA DIII record with seven Feb. 22, 2022 against Gallaudet. 
• Four Rams contributed to the record-setting mark: Marc Birbiglia (1), Luke Harder (1), Shane Lake (2) and Harry Painter (2). 
• Lake and Painter are the first Rams to hit for multiple triples in one game since Brady Chant '18 notched three in a 30-8 win over Anna Maria. 
• Lake and Painter are the first pair of Suffolk student-athletes to have two triples in the same outing since Devin Jones and Chris Stanley each chipped in two triples to the 16-1 triumph against Rivier April 21, 2012.
• Both Lake and Painter tallied the first triples of their collegiate careers. 

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk remains on the road for its next three outings, all of which are midweek matches. The first sends the Rams to Beverly, Massachusetts, Tuesday, March 29 for a CCC clash at Endicott. Game time with the Gulls is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.