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Fredonia University

Kenny Johnston
Kirk Komasara
Kenny Johnston was named to the SUNYAC All-Tournament team in 2013. He had the most doubles in SUNYAC games this season.

Baseball

SUNYAC Baseball Tournament preview

TOURNAMENT WEB PAGE

FREDONIA, N.Y. -- The Fredonia baseball team will compete in the SUNYAC Baseball Tournament this weekend in Cortland. The Blue Devils take on the No. 1 seed Cortland (17-1 SUNYAC, 33-2 overall) on Friday at noon, while Oswego (14-4, 24-9) and Brockport (19-15, 10-8) tangle at 3 p.m. in the double-elimination tournament.

Fredonia enters as the No. 4 seed after posting an 8-10 record in conference play. The team clinched the post-season berth last weekend after sweeping Oneonta in three games. They added their fourth-consecutive win on Wednesday, a 6-3 victory over non-conference opponent Penn State Behrend.

"We enter the tournament with a little momentum and feeling we're battle tested," said head coach Matt Palisin. " We won a couple of hard-fought games vs. Brockport, and had leads into the late innings against Oswego. Every game was decided late. Cortland is having one of its best seasons ever, but its a great chance to test ourselves against the top-ranked team in the country. We've been in tight games all season and have played well late."

Fredonia won four SUNYAC games by one run and lost four conference games by one run, and two more by two runs, in addition to four other non-league games by one run.

As a team, Fredonia ranks third in the SUNYAC-only games in batting with a .300 average. Dan Cecilia (.369, 3 HR, 20 RBI), Ricky Mendiola (.365, 10 extra-base hits, 21 RBI), Kenny Johnston (.313, 11 doubles, 21 RBI) and Mike Prentice (.352, 11 doubles) set the tone offensively.

Top arms for the Blue Devils include Zach Jordon (6-2), Jake Harford (1.73 ERA, 24 strikeouts in 26 innings) and Joe DiLeo (29 strikeouts in 26 innings). Freshmen Bailey Gauthier (3.15, 2 saves, 9 appearances) and Kyle Smith (2.25 ERA) have been steady out of the pen.

"Anybody can beat anybody in SUNYAC baseball, so our goal is to play our game and stick to our approach this weekend. A sound fundamental game will allow us to compete with anyone," said Palisin.

The Devils last competed in the SUNYAC Touurnament two seasons ago and advanced to the semi-finals. Johnston was named to the All-Tournament team.

Live stats and audio/webcasts will be available online on the tournament webpage. Click HERE.
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Players Mentioned

Dan Cecilia

#27 Dan Cecilia

C
5' 11"
Junior
R/R
Jake  Harford

#55 Jake Harford

P
6' 4"
Senior
R/R
Kenny Johnston

#34 Kenny Johnston

OF
5' 11"
Senior
R/R
Ricky  Mendiola

#44 Ricky Mendiola

1B
6' 4"
Senior
L/R
Joe DiLeo

#10 Joe DiLeo

P
5' 9"
Senior
R/R
Bailey Gauthier

#16 Bailey Gauthier

SS
5' 10"
Freshman
R/R
Kyle Smith

#22 Kyle Smith

P
6' 5"
Freshman
R/R

Players Mentioned

Dan Cecilia

#27 Dan Cecilia

5' 11"
Junior
R/R
C
Jake  Harford

#55 Jake Harford

6' 4"
Senior
R/R
P
Kenny Johnston

#34 Kenny Johnston

5' 11"
Senior
R/R
OF
Ricky  Mendiola

#44 Ricky Mendiola

6' 4"
Senior
L/R
1B
Joe DiLeo

#10 Joe DiLeo

5' 9"
Senior
R/R
P
Bailey Gauthier

#16 Bailey Gauthier

5' 10"
Freshman
R/R
SS
Kyle Smith

#22 Kyle Smith

6' 5"
Freshman
R/R
P