February 6, 2009

PhilaU Baseball 2009 Season Outlook

Philadelphia, PA- The Philadelphia University Rams baseball team will open up the 2009 slate with their earliest meeting in recent memory, a February 13^th date with Georgia State College & University at 6 p.m. - a team that received preseason votes in the Collegiate Baseball preseason national rankings. The PhilaU squad will also face preseason-ranked #5 Columbus State three times over two days (February 14^th-15^th) as Head Coach Mark Heineman will test his player early.

"Our trip to Georgia will give the players an opportunity to compete against some of the best teams in the country, and both teams we'll be facing have received preseason national votes," said Heineman.

Last season, PhilaU won the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) regular-season championship, going 22-22 overall and 19-8 in the CACC. In the 2008 CACC Tournament the Rams pounded Felician 13-0 in their first game, but fell 2-0 to Caldwell and 7-1 to Dominican to bow out of the double-elimination competition.

"I hope we continue our success in 2008, particularly in the CACC and the region," said Heineman.

A 20 day gap between the Ram's southern jaunt and their home-opener against preseason ranked #14 Franklin Pierce on March 7^th will give the team time to tweak any early season issues.

"It will be nice to open 2009 with Franklin Pierce at home, they have won the East region the past few years and went to the Division II World Series last season," said Heineman.

The Rams return several key players this season, most notably junior second baseman Tyler Mentzer. Mentzer was named a 2009 Collegiate Baseball Preseason All-American in the East region. He started in 41 games for the Rams last season and hit .360 with four homeruns and a team-high 42 RBIs. He was named East All-Region 2^nd Team, CACC All-Conference 1^st Team and Daktronics ECAC 1^st Team.

Sophomore pitcher Jared Farbman was also named 2009 Collegiate Baseball East region ‘Player to Watch', after earning a CACC All-Conference Honorable Mention last season as one of the best pitchers in the league. As the PhilaU ace in ‘08, he went 6-0 on the mound with a 2.89 ERA and one save.

Other key returners include senior pitcher/outfielder Kyle Noonan (CACC All-Conference 2^nd Team), who led the team in innings pitched (70.1) last season and held a 3.20 ERA. He also batted .235 with 21 RBIs. Senior catcher Jason Hartley (CACC All-Conference Honorable Mention) will return behind the plate for PhilaU, as he hit .254 last season and saw action in all 44 contests. Senior outfielder Dan Ellmer rounds out the group, hitting over .533 in CACC last season before an injury sidelined him.

"We expect big things from Ellmer this season," said Heineman.

Rounding out returning impact players are junior pitcher/first baseman Rob Fisher (.287/18 RBIs), sophomore third baseman Anthony DiFrancesco (.186/7 RBIs), junior outfielder Mike Anderson (.289/.444 OB%), sophomore pitcher Victor Quint (5.72 ERA/39.1 IP) and junior hurler Brian Rousseau (6.10/ 38.1 IP).

"Fisher will help us both at the plate and on the mound, and both Quint and Rousseau were third and fourth respectively in innings pitched last year" said Heineman.

The Rams will look to build on last year's success with a class of seven newcomers. Stay tuned to www.philaurams.com for the latest PhilaU baseball updates.


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