Coming off of their first-ever season-series ECC win at Lincoln last weekend, CSI Baseball returns to the diamond today in an afternoon doubleheader at Mercy College, starting a four-game set against the Mavericks that extends till tomorrow at Staten Island.  The two teams will play two games today, the first a nine-inning contest that will count towards the ECC standings, and then another, seven-inning contest, that will not count towards the conference standings.

COLLEGE OF STATEN ISLAND VS. MERCY COLLEGE
Matchup: College of Staten Island (3-10, 3-9 ECC) vs. Mercy College (10-7, 7-3 ECC)
Where:  Mercy College - Dobbs Ferry, NY
Live Video:  https://www.eccsportsnetwork.com/mercyathletics/
Live Stats: https://mercyathletics.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary
Spectator Policy:  Home Team Only
All-Time Series:  Series tied, 7-7
Last Meeting: March 8, 2020 (DH) - Mercy won G1, 14-6 , CSI won G2, 5-3
Players to Watch (CSI):  Junior Thomas Joyce took CSI Baseball's first-ever ECC weekly honor as he was awarded Player of the Week honors last week.  he now stands second on the team with a .326 average and has a team-best 13 RBI to his credit to go with his team-leading 15 hits and two home runs.  He is second in batting only to Thomas Marten, who leads the team with a .389 average, with six of his 14 hits for extra bases (all doubles).  Peter Lombardo is the only other Dolphin batting over .300 with a .321 average, with nine hits and four bases on balls.  Angel Santiago is just south of .300 after a torrid start, batting .298, tied for second on the team with 14 hits.  CSI is being led on the mound this season by Salvatore Trancucci IV, who is 2-0 with a 2.16 ERA in a limited 8.1 innings.  Steven Collica has garnered two saves this season and in 13.2 innings has accumulated a respectable 3.95 ERA.
Players to Watch (MC):  Mercy is being led at the plate by the sensational hitting of Charles Lebron, who is batting .387 with 24 hits and 16 RBI, which is second on the squad.  The RBI leader is Anthony Murphy, who is next in line, batting .327.  He is also tied for the team lead with eight extra base hits, including three home runs.  Francisco Paulino is also doing well, batting .325 with nine RBI.  Nolan Giblin leads Mercy with 17 runs plated, hitting .290, while Miguel Ortiz Sanchez leads Mercy with six doubles and six stolen bases.   On the mound, MC has a great 1-2 punch with Anthony Burgio and Ryan Rozinski, who have five starts each.  Burgio is 4-1 with a 2.40 ERA through 30 innings, and opponents are batting just .186 against him, while Rozinski is right there with him with a 2-1 record and a 3.10 ERA, fanning 31 in 29 innings.
News & Notes: Mercy is one of the few NCAA Division II teams that CSi has some degree of familiarity with.  Today will mark the 15th and 16th games the sides have played against one-another in their history, with the two teams splitting the previous 14 meetings.  CSI and Mercy squared off in a non-conference doubleheader last year, in fact, in what was the final CSI contest played in 2020 before the COVID pandemic hit and canceled the remainder of the year.  The teams split that doubleheader, with the Mavericks winning the opener convincingly, 14-6, and CSI returning the favor with a hard-fought, 5-3, win in game two.  The series is tied, 4-4, in games played at the Mercy campus all time.  Prior to last year's meeting the series lay dormant for 23 years, as the teams last played one-another in 1997.  Mercy is currently ranked third in the ECC in hitting as a team with a .295 team batting average, while CSI places sixth at .251.  Both teams have shown their power, as Mercy is tops in the conference with 11 home runs this season, and CSI is tied for third with six.  Pitching has been the Mavericks' bread and butter as they top the ECC with a 3.46 ERA, accumulating 133 strikeouts (2nd in the ECC).  CSI has struggled on the hill at times, boasting a league-low 11.57 ERA.