Head Coach Jon Mueller
FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
Albany, N.Y. – Vice President and Director of Athletics Lee McElroy announced the 2009 University at Albany baseball schedule on Wednesday afternoon. The Great Danes, who claimed the America East Conference championship in 2007, will compete in a tournament at Coastal Carolina to highlight the non-conference schedule, and play six four-game series with America East opponents.
UAlbany kicks off the season with a four-game series at Western Kentucky on Feb. 27-28 and March 1. The Great Danes will visit Coastal Carolina from March 6-8 to play in four games at the Caravelle Resort Tournament, where they will take on the host Chanticleers along with IPFW and Creighton. UAlbany faced Creighton in the NCAA Fayetteville Regional in 2007.
The Great Danes will play two games against St. John’s (March 13-15) and have a doubleheader against N.Y. Tech on March 14 before heading to North Carolina to play a three-game series with UNC Greensboro on March 20-22. UAlbany will have a four-game series on the road with Fairleigh Dickinson (March 27-29) and play a single game at Manhattan on April 1 before beginning the home slate.
UAlbany kicks off play at Varsity Field on April 3 with the first America East series of the season, hosting UMBC on April 3-5. The Great Danes will also welcome league opponents Binghamton and Maine to their home diamond, and will play conference foes Vermont, Stony Brook and Hartford on the road.
UAlbany will play a home-and-home series with Le Moyne, hosting the Dolphins on April 21 and visiting Syracuse on May 5. The Great Danes will also play at Marist (April 7) before hosting the Red Foxes on May 12. Manhattan (April 29) and New York Tech (May 5-8) will also visit Varsity Field in non-conference action.
UAlbany is led by junior outfielder Brendan Rowland, an All-America East first-team member last season after recording a team-best .332 batting average and leading the conference with 74 hits, tying the second-best total in UAlbany history. Senior Ryan Gugel returns to guide the Great Danes behind the plate, after earning all-conference first team honors a year ago. Sophomore right hander David Kubiak will pace the pitching rotation. Kubiak, an all-rookie team member last season, finished his freshman campaign with a 5-0 record, a team-best 3.92 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 59.2 innings pitched.
