May 30, 2007
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June 1, 2007 #4 Lafayette (33-18) vs. #1 Virginia (43-14) 4 p.m. 1 #2 Rutgers (41-19) vs. #4 Oregon State (38-17) 8 p.m. 2June 2, 2007 Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2 1 p.m. 3 Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 6 p.m. 4June 3, 2007 Winner of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4 1 p.m. 5 Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 5 6 p.m. 6June 4, 2007 If Necessary 6 p.m. 7
THE STORY LINE: In the midst of a record-breaking season, Lafayette is making its first appearance in an NCAA Regional since 1990. The Leopards captured the Patriot League regular-season title and the right to host the conference tournament on May 12-13. The senior-laden group finished the deal, taking the first two games of a best-of-three series with Army (8-3, 7-3).
A WINNING NOTE: Lafayette has rung up 33 wins in the 2007 season, breaking the previous single-season record of 29 wins set in 1987. Lafayette posted a 17-3 mark in conference play, tying the Patriot League record for conference wins in a 20-game season. Army squads of 2004 and 2005 also reached the 17-win total. Those 17 victories were the most wins ever for a Lafayette squad, surpassing the previous best mark by five games.
ABOUT THE COLLEGE: Lafayette College is a highly selective and most academically competitive undergraduate institution located in Easton, Pa., home of former heavyweight boxing champion of the world Larry Holmes and Crayola Crayons.
ABOUT THE LEHIGH VALLEY: Easton, Pa. is located on the Pennsylvania-New Jersey border in the Lehigh Valley region (Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton). Easton is situated a half hour south of the Pocono Mountains, 60 miles north of Philadelphia and 70 miles west of New York City.
ABOUT THE PATRIOT LEAGUE: Lafayette is a founding member of the Patriot League which was established in 1990 on the principle of need-based financial aid only. Lafayette does not currently offer athletic scholarships in baseball. Despite the fact there are eight schools which comprise the conference, (American, Army, Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lehigh, Lafayette and Navy) only six field a baseball team. American and Colgate do not. The six teams play five conference series with a doubleheader on Saturday and Sunday. A seven-inning and a nine-inning game are played each day.
ABOUT LAFAYETTE BASEBALL: Lafayette first began playing baseball in 1865, the final year of the Civil War, and the Leopard program is one of the most storied within the Lafayette ranks. Lafayette has made 10 NCAA Regional appearances with four berths in the College World Series. Current Tampa Bay Devil Rays' skipper Joe Maddon is a Lafayette alum, leaving after his junior year at the school to pursue a professional playing career.
THE HEAD COACH: Head coach Joe Kinney has been selected by his peers as the 2007 Patriot League Coach of the Year. In eight seasons, Kinney has shaped the Lafayette baseball program into a consistent Patriot League contender. He has led the Leopards to four Patriot League Tournament appearances, the only berths in the program's history. Lafayette has qualified for the event in three of the last four seasons. Under his supervision, Kinney has guided Lafayette to four winning seasons. When Lafayette posted a 23-22 record in 2002, it marked the first time in 10 years that a Lafayette squad had won 20 games in a season. Lafayette's 27 wins in 2006 were the second-most in program history, and this season Kinney's squad has rung up a school-record 33 wins. In his eight seasons as a head coach, Kinney's players have earned 41 All-Patriot League selections while two have been named Patriot League Player of the Year (Vince D'Angelis '02 and Adam Rosenberg '04). Kinney's career record stands at 164-199. This will be Kinney's third appearance in an NCAA Regional, as he was a member of the Navy coaching staff from 1992-99 when the Mids qualified twice.
SENIOR CIRCUIT: Lafayette features a very experienced lineup with nine seniors on the roster. Lafayette's entire outfield consists of seniors Mike Raible (RF), James Conrad (CF), Kevin Leasure (LF). Dave Drechsel sits behind the plate and catches for seniors Matt Kamine (SP), Ted Gjeldum (SP), Brian Cope (SP) and John Fugett (RP). Fellow senior Nick Benvenuto spends time in the designated hitter role. The Lafayette nine received their diplomas on May 19.
THE OPPONENTS: Lafayette will hold the No. 4 seed in the 2007 College World Series Regional Tournament in Charlottesville, Va. The Leopards will face No. 1 seed and host Virginia (43-14) which ranks No. 8 in Baseball America's Top 25 poll. No. 2 seed Rutgers (41-19), currently ranked 23rd in the nation, and No. 3 seed Oregon State (38-17), the 2006 College World Series champion, fill out the bracket. Lafayette faced Rutgers on May 3 and lost a 6-1 decision. The Leopards and Scarlet Knights initially hooked up on April 25 before the game was called due to rain in the third inning when Lafayette was leading 2-1.
ALL-TIME VS... : Lafayette has faced each of its NCAA Regional opponents at least once in the program's history. Rutgers is the most frequent rival with Lafayette holding an 81-76-1 advantage, but Rutgers has won the last 25 meetings. Lafayette last beat the Scarlet Knights on April 17, 1980. Virginia holds a 20-9 mark vs. Lafayette, including a 19-7 record in Charlottesville, Va. Lafayette has squared off with Oregon State just once, an 11-5 loss on May 29, 1991 in the UC-Riverside Tournament.
LEOPARDS ON THE RUN: A big part of Lafayette's offense is the running game. The Leopards have stolen 138 bases in 163 attempts and Lafayette ranks second in the nation in stolen bases per game (2.65). Five players on Lafayette's squad have stolen 13 or more bases.
CONRAD ON THE RUN: Senior centerfielder James Conrad leads the Patriot League and ranks third in the nation with 48 stolen bases. Each time he steals a base he breaks his own Lafayette single-season record. He has been caught stealing just four times this season and only once in conference play (19-for-20). The Columbia, Md. native broke the Lafayette career stolen base record in the Patriot League Tournament against Army. Conrad stole three bases in the Leopards' second game against the Black Knights, raising his total to 84. He has stolen home three times in his career.
MEANINGFUL GAMES?: After wrapping up the conference tournament championship nearly three weeks ago, Lafayette has had a long wait to learn who its opponents would when the NCAA Regional destination was announced. The wait is due to the conference tournament being scheduled so as not to conflict with schools' final exam schedules. The Leopards had a week off from competition (May 14-18), with Lafayette's graduation held on May 19. Lafayette played Ivy League champion Brown on May 24 on the campus of Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Lafayette and Brown split a doubleheader, winning the second game 11-4 after losing the opener 6-1.
HE SCORES TOO: Based on his .457 on-base percentage, it's not surprising that James Conrad leads the team in runs scored and has set a new single-season record. His 65 runs scored also stack up on a national level where he ranks 9th in the nation with 1.29 per game (5/20).
CONRAD NAMED THIRD-TEAM ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA: Centerfielder James Conrad has been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Third Team it was announced May 29. He is a two-time Academic All-District II First Team selection. The award, which is selected by sports information directors, recognizes those student-athletes who maintain a 3.2 cumulative GPA while playing a key role on their team. The All-Patriot League First Team selection graduated with an honors degree in Mathematics and held a 3.58 overall GPA.
YOUTHFUL INFIELD: There are no seniors in the Lafayette infield. Junior Tom Hayes, who made the move from the outfield to second base for 2007, is the most experienced player. Sophomore Jeff Butler is the starting third baseman, a role he moved into midway through 2006. Sophomore Daniel Bierce took over at shortstop this season after playing second in 2006, while classmate Chris Luick has planted himself in the starting spot at first base for the second straight season. IT'S GOOD TO BE HOME: Lafayette posted a 16-4 record at Hilton Rahn Field at the Class of 1978 Stadium this season and went 10-2 in Patriot League play and 2-0 in the conference tournament at home. Hosting the Patriot League Tournament has proven to be quite an advantage as 11 of the 14 host teams have won the event, including the last five Patriot League Tournaments. Lafayette had never hosted the Patriot League Tournament prior to 2007.
EXTRA--EXTRA: Lafayette has played nine extra-inning games in the 2007 season and the Leopards hold a 6-3 record in those contests.
LIBERTY BELL CLASSIC CHAMPS: Lafayette's first title of the 2007 season came at the 16th Annual Liberty Bell Classic. The eight-team tournament features Delaware, Villanova, St. Joseph's, Temple, Penn, Lehigh and La Salle. Lafayette beat Villanova (8-2) and Penn (10-2) to advance to the title game at the Philadelphia Phillies' Citizens Bank Park. The Leopards, who were playing in the championship game for the second straight season, beat archrival Lehigh 7-3.
LAFAYETTE ON TELEVISION: Lafayette has made five television appearances this season via the Lafayette Sports Network. All of Lafayette's games were televised in the Lehigh Valley on RCN-4 and later re-broadcast to a national audience on CSTV. Lafayette's doubleheader vs. Army on March 31 was carried regionally by the Lafayette Sports Network and aired to a national television audience on CSTV, as was the Leopards' appearance in the Liberty Bell Classic title game on April 10 at Citizens Bank Park. Emmy-nominated local sports broadcaster Gary Laubach has provided play-by-play while John Leone has served as the analyst in the booth. Dan Mowdy and Scott Barr have reported from the field.
LEFTY--LEFTY: Sophomore Jeff Butler, a left-handed hitter, has been tearing up left-handed pitching. Butler is batting .432 against southpaws and .325 against righthanders.
THE CAPTAINS: Seniors Dave Drechsel, Matt Kamine and Mike Raible are serving as team captains in 2007. Drechsel is the team's starting catcher and Raible holds down the starting spot in rightfield for the Maroon and White. Kamine is one of the Leopards' top weekend starters.
SLOWING DOWN THE RUN: The Lafayette pitching staff and starting catcher Dave Drechsel have allowed opponents to steal just 46 bases this season, an average of less than one stolen base per game. Drechsel has personally thrown out 23 runners attempting to steal and picked off four others.
FAMILY AFFAIR: Matt Kamine represents the second generation of the Kamine family to play baseball at Lafayette. Matt's father, Hal, graduated in 1978 after a successful baseball career. He still ranks 18th in career stolen bases. Matt's mother and his older sister also attended the school. In the fall, Matt's brother Justin will begin his career at Lafayette where he will play soccer for head coach Dennis Bohn.
LUCKY SEVEN(s): Senior lefthander Matt Kamine and junior righty Kevin Reese both collected seven wins so far this season. Reese is 7-1 in nine starts while Kamine is 7-4 in 12 starts.
ALL-PATRIOT LEAGUE RANKS: Lafayette has placed nine players on the All-Patriot League Baseball Teams, including five on the first team and four on the second team.
Lafayette's entire outfield was named to the All-Patriot League First Team. Senior James Conrad adds his 2007 first-team selection to a first-team honor in 2005 and a second-team honor in 2006. The three-year starter has twice been named Patriot League Player of the Week this season.
Rightfielder Mike Raible earned his first All-Patriot League First-Team honor in his final season at Lafayette. The team captain is second on the team in RBI and in the top five in hitting and was selected as the Patriot League Player of the Week on May 1 after hitting for a .467 mark with seven RBI.
Kevin Leasure has split time between left field and designated hitter, but earned conference honors in the DH spot. It is the second straight season that Leasure collected All-Patriot League First-Team honors. He leads the team with 45 RBI, half of which came in Patriot League play. He has started all but one game this season. The senior has been named the Patriot League Player of the Week twice this season (3/5, 4/17).
Fellow senior Matt Kamine is the lone representative of the Lafayette pitching staff on the First Team, the second straight season that the Patriot League coaches have awarded him the distinction. Kamine holds a 7-4 record with a 2.72 ERA and six complete games. His strikeout to walk ratio rests above seven. He was at his best in conference play, rolling up a 4-0 record with a 1.63 ERA in five appearances. That mark included three complete games and one shutout.
Sophomore Jeff Butler was Lafayette's final selection on the All-Patriot League First Team. Butler collected the honor for his play at third base where he is in his second season as a starter. Butler is second on the team in hitting.
The Leopards placed four players on the All-Patriot League Second Team and three of them occupy a spot in the infield. Behind the plate, Dave Drechsel earned All-Patriot League honors for the first time in his career. The senior has set new personal bests for home runs, doubles, hits, RBI and stolen bases. Much of his contribution has come on defense where he has gunned down 27 would-be base stealers.
The right side of the infield was also honored by the Patriot League coaches. Sophomore Chris Luick garnered his All-League laurels at first base. Luick is third on the team in hitting. He led the way in league play with a .361 average, and three of his four home runs came in the 20-game conference slate.
Second baseman Tom Hayes made it consecutive seasons with All-Patriot League honors, as the junior was a member of the First Team in 2006 when he hit for a .372 clip. This season Hayes made the move from the outfield to the infield and has started all but six games. Hayes made his case in Patriot League play, ripping off a .345 batting average with 11 RBI.
All Kevin Reese did to earn Patriot honors was go undefeated in five league starts. Reese threw four complete games on his way to a 5-0 mark and a 2.67 ERA in Patriot League play. He collected Patriot League Pitcher of the Week laurels on March 19. Reese's overall numbers (2.70 ERA, 7-1) were equally as impressive despite undergoing knee surgery just weeks before the start of the season.
Lafayette's nine All-Patriot League selections are the most in program history. During head coach Joe Kinney's tenure, Lafayette has had 41 All-Patriot League selections and two Players of the Year.
