Baseball Shows Improvement Despite Losing Season

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Pitching has been a strength for the Mavericks all season long

Michael Nash, Sports Editor

The Mercy Mavericks baseball team finished up the season with a record of 8-37-1. While 2013 was not an easy ride, the team is enjoying more success so far in their 2014 campaign. At this point in the season with just about ten games left on the schedule, the Mavs record is 11-20, with eleven of those losses being by less than three runs.

While the Mavericks winning percentage is only .355, their record is not a clear way to show how they have been playing. All season long, the Mavs have been a very competitive team, which is obvious from the stat that they have lost eleven games by less than three runs.  What has been a key factor for the Mavericks all season long has been their strong pitching which they have gotten from their rotation and their bullpen.

The Mavericks have a combined team ERA of just below five with a respectable ERA of 4.84, which is just about a whole run lower than the team ERA was in 2013 with the team having a 5.92. While that does not seem like a drastic change, the pitching has been huge for the Mavericks all season long.

The most consistent pitcher, and the ” ace” of the staff for the Mavericks has been junior Bryan Greig. Coming into the 2014 season, Greig had the third lowest career ERA in Mavericks history with it being an incredible 2.96. With the way Greig has pitched this season though, he may end up being even higher than third place and making a run for first or second.

So far on the season, Greig has an ERA of just below three with a 2.25, which is the second lowest on the Mavericks team as a whole. While his ERA is very solid, there is one stat that is just incredible. Greig has pitched seven games on the season, with a record of 4-2, and while that is certainly impressive in itself, it is even more impressive that he has thrown five complete games in those seven starts. Greig has thrown 48 innings on the season, and has 47 strikeouts, which is just about one strikeout per inning, with opponents batting a measly .211 off him.

While Greig has dominated on the field, he was also awarded for his work in the classroom being named to the East Coast Conference ( ECC)  Weekly Honor Roll for the week of April 21st.

While Greig has been a dominant starter, Junior pitcher Vinny Luppino has been strong out of the bullpen for the Mavericks.  Luppino leads the Mavericks in saves with two, and posts the same ERA as Greig, with a 2.25. He also leads the team in appearances with ten, and has only allowed four earned runs all season long, which is very impressive. Luppino has struck out ten batters in just sixteen innings of work, which is huge for a reliever.

While Greig and Luppino have been strong on the hill for the Mavericks, the team has gotten a boost at the plate from Junior catcher Sal Palumbo. Batting .264, the catcher has the Mavericks only home run on the season. Palumbo also leads the team in walks with twelve, and has the highest on base percentage on the team with it being .372.  Palumbo has been the leader of the Mavericks offense this season.

With just about ten games remaining, the Mavericks have a great chance to finish strong and have themselves a very respectable season, just one year removed off of having a down year. So far this season, the Mavericks have gotten both quality pitching and hitting which has resulted in eleven wins. Unfortunately in baseball, sometimes things don’t go your way, which happened to the Mavs in many games this season in games which they lost by three runs or less.

Look for the Mavericks to try to finish the season strong, and to have continues success heading into the 2015 season.