George Washington University

March 26, 2004

Series at a Glance

Date/Time:Saturday at 12:00 pm doubleheader, Sunday nine-inning game at 12:00 pm
Field (Capacity): Barcroft Park (500)
Place: Arlington, VA
George Washington (Streak): 13-10, 0-0 (Won last four games)
Home Record: 11-3
Last Game: 10-9 victory at home against Norfolk State on Wednesday, March 24
Massachusetts (Streak): 5-5, 0-0 (Lost last two)
Road Record: 2-3
Last Game:Lost 6-8 at Miami (Ohio)
Series: Massachusetts leads 12-9
Last Meeting: Massachusetts won 3-1 in the 2003 A-10 Tournament to knock GW out of the winners bracket
Live Stats:on Gametracker
Coming Up: The Colonials complete their 14-game home stand with two midweek games at Barcroft at 2:30 pm on Tuesday and Wednesday against Delaware and Coppin State.

Quick Notes

ARLINGTON, VA - The George Washington Colonials (13-10) are riding a four-game winning streak and would need to sweep Massachusetts (5-5 to even their all-time series against the Minutemen. This weekend's three-game series should be a good rematch of last year's playoff pairing when UMass knocked GW out of the winner's bracket with a 3-1 victory. The Colonials have lost to UMass in the conference tournament three of the last four years but the Colonials did win the last regular season series between these rivals which was in Amherst, MA in 2002.

GW is 11-3 at home this year and has won 30 of its last 36 home games dating back to last season. Massachusetts has lost its last two games after winning the three before that. The Minutemen are 2-3 on the road and have not yet played a home game. The Colonials have been strong at Barcroft Park this year and have had two four game winning streaks this season including their current four-game run. GW is in the midst of a 14-game home stand in which they are 6-3 through their first 11-games of the home stand which runs to the end of March.

Projected Starting Line-up
George Washington:
1. Matt Owens, CF
2. Tom Shanley, 2B
3. Anthony Raglani, LF
4. Ryan Roberson, 3B
5. Anthony Smith, DH
6. Jeff Fertitta, 1B
7. Geoff Milsom, SS
8. Joe Michalski, C
9. Brad Rosenblat, RF

Key Colonials Reserves:
Bill Simpson, DH
Jay Quinn, C
Mickey Shupin, 2B
Michael Parker, SS
Steve Santy, DH
Avi Rasowsky, LHP
Nick Koken, RHP
Derrik Lutz, RHP

Projected Pitching Match-ups:
Friday: GW's left-handed junior Dan Sullivan vs. TBA
Saturday: GW's left-handed freshman Dan Pfau vs. TBA
Sunday: GW's left-handed sophomore Josh Wilkie vs. TBA

GW Baseball Game Notes

Home Sweet Home:
GW is 11-3 at home this season and has won 30 of their last 36 games at Barcroft over the last two years. GW went 19-3 at Barcroft Park in 2003 for the team's best ever .864 winning percentage at Barcroft Park. Since their arrival at Barcroft Park in Arlington, VA, the Colonials are an impressive 187-86 (.685) at home. GW has also won more than 20 games at home in four out of the last six seasons. In 2004, the Colonials have the benefit of playing 30 games at home including 18 games in the month of March alone with a 14-game home stand to end the month. Through the first nine games of the home stretch GW is 6-3 including an active four game winning streak.

Bombs Away And At Home:
The Colonials have used the long ball to regain their winning ways. In fact, the team has out-homered opponents by a 34-15 margin. GW is led by junior Ryan Roberson and freshman Anthony Smith who each have six. Junior Anthony Raglani has five homers as does sophomore leadoff hitter Matt Owens. Brad Rosenblat has four home runs including a walk-off two-run homer that lifted GW past Marist 13-12. The Colonials need just 20 more home runs to match last year's total of 54.

Pitcher Perfect:
Sophomore starter Dan Pfau is undefeated for the Colonials with a perfect 9-0 record at GW. This year, Pfau has pitched seven times with five starts earning three victories one each over CSU, UMBC and ODU. Pfau needs just five more wins to be on the top 10 list and has the highest winning percentage all-time and is joined on that list by senior captain Dennis Gramolini who is tied for second at 5-1 (.833).

Saving Grace:
Junior Nick Koken is tied for second place all-time at GW with 10 career saves. He is a perfect three for three in save opportunities this year in his nine appearances this season. Koken is now tied on the saves list with Mike O'Connor who was drafted by the Montreal Expos in the seventh round of the 2002 Major League Baseball Draft and pitched last year for the Savannah Sand Gnats. Koken collected seven saves as a sophomore closer after starting for much of his freshman year including a no-hitter.

Appearances Are Everything:
The Colonials have four pitchers within striking distance of GW's all-time appearances list. Senior Dennis Gramolini needs just four more to enter the list but has only appeared in three games so far this year. Junior Nick Koken and his classmate Avi Rasowsky each need nine more appearances to make the list as juniors. Both have appeared more than 10 times this year splitting time in the closer role. Starter Dan Sullivan is the Colonials ace and needs 12 more appearances and eight more starts as a junior.

Rookie Respect:
Anthony Smith has been an outstanding asset to the 2004 Colonials both offensively and as a pitcher. He was recognized for his amazing impact as the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week for the first two weeks of March. Smith leads the Colonials in several key categories including a .429 batting average, .814 slugging percentage, 36 RBI, nine doubles, six home runs, three wins and six games started as a pitcher. Even when Smith pitches, he usually bats for himself and was a triple shy of hitting for the cycle when he did so last with two home runs, a double, a single and six RBI. He had 10 strikeouts in his last start.

Lighting Up Lefties:
GW has a better winning percentage .714 against left-handed starters than right handed starters against whom they are an even .500. The Colonials who have three left-handed starting pitchers of their own are 5-2 versus lefties and 8-8 against right-handers which is a .214 difference in winning percentage.

2 x 4:
GW has had two four-game winning streaks including their current streak which was started against Marist in the second game of a doubleheader on March 20th.

Hot After Hammy:
Sophomore Tom Shanley has been unstoppable since his return from a hamstring injury and has at least one hit in all six games since his return. In his first at bat after an 11-day layoff Shanley slapped a double down the leftfield line. He is now tied for second on the team with seven doubles exceeding last years total of six in just 16 games. Shanley is currently sixth all-time with a .378 career batting average after finishing his freshman campaign with a conference-best .398. Not only was Shanley last year's A-10 Rookie of the Year, but he was also honored as a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American.

Robo-Pop:
Junior Ryan Roberson is an offensive force for GW and leads the team with 36 hits, 61 total bases and six stolen bases. He has batted over .380 the last two years and was one of the top RBI producers in the nation last season. In 2004, Roberson was 14th in the country by generating 1.28 RBI per game. He was also 78th in the nation with a .383 batting average.

From Rags To Riches:
Junior Anthony Raglani has generated a great deal of scouting interest this season and was ranked 97th in this year's draft class by Baseball America due largely to an outstanding summer in the Cape Code League. He was recognized by the conference when he was named the Atlantic 10 Player of the Week for a two weeks span to start the month of March. He hit two homers on March 9th against UMBC and then again on March 13th against Cleveland State. He leads GW with a .495 on base percentage, 27 runs and 20 walks. He is the top three in average, slugging percentage, hits, RBI, home runs and steals.

Rad Brad:
Junior Brad Rosenblat is one of two offensive starters without an error. Better yet, he is third on the team with 64 putouts despite playing right field. The agile outfielder has made some amazing plays most notably an unassisted double play at Towson earlier this year. The unlikely double play occurred when he dove to catch a sinking line drive and then sprinted to second before the runner could tag up. During that game he had an outstanding nine putouts. Rosenblat also hit a game-winning homer.

Fertitta Runs Up RBI List:
Senior Jeff Fertitta is currently 10th on GW's all-time RBI list with 124 in his career. Fertitta is also approaching the top 10 list in home runs where he needs three and walks where he needs seven, doubles where he needs 15 and total bases where he needs 44. This year the senior has also played four different defensive positions: catcher, first base, second base and third base and has played in all but one game.

Milsom Matches Mark:
Junior Geoff Milsom matched his doubles mark of last season in just 10 games this year. He hit his fourth double of the season in just 10 games whereas it took him all of last season to reach the mark last year. It took him 21 games two match last year's home run mark and his average is up about .50 points.

These Dudes Were Made For Walking:
GW has 20 more walks this year than their opponents. The Colonials have been granted 99 free passes while issuing only 79 of their own. Anthony Raglani makes up the difference single handedly with his 20 walks this year. In fact, the junior walked four consecutive times after singling in GW's last game.

Double Trouble:
When GW scored double digits opponents are in trouble. This year the Colonials are 6-0 when they score 10 or more runs. GW is also 6-2 if the difference in a final score is of five or more runs.

Odd Balls:
Strangely the Colonials have outscored their opponents in all of the odd numbered innings while giving up more runs than they score in three of the four even innings. GW holds an 84-64 lead in odd innings.

Golden Boys:
The Colonials are a perfect 7-0 when wearing their gold jerseys since they got the uniforms last year.

GW Batting Records (Active Players)

Career batting average:
6. .378 (95-251) Tom Shanley (2003-), he hit .398 (74-186) in 2003.

Runs Batted In:
T10. Jeff Fertitta has 124 RBI and is 10th all-time at GW as a senior (he had 112 after 2003).
Ryan Roberson needs 14 to enter GW's all-time list, he currently has 104 (he had 84 after 2003).
Anthony Raglani needs 19 to enter GW's all-time list, he currently has 99 (he had 77 after 2003).

Home Runs:
Ryan Roberson needs two to enter GW's all-time list, he currently has 20 (he had 13 after 2003).
Jeff Fertitta needs three to enter GW's all-time list, he currently has 19 (he had 18 after 2003).
Joe Michalski needs five to enter GW's all-time list, he currently has 17 (he had 17 after 2003).
Anthony Raglani needs six to enter GW's all-time list, he currently has 16 (he had 11 after 2003).

Doubles:
Anthony Raglani needs four to enter GW's all-time list, he currently has 37 (he had 32 after 2003).
Ryan Roberson needs 13 to enter GW's all-time list, he currently has 30 (he had 24 after 2003).
Jeff Fertitta needs 15 to enter GW's all-time list, he currently has 28 (he had 24 after 2003).

Walks:
Jeff Fertitta needs seven walks to enter GW's all-time list, he currently has 83 (he had 72 after 2003).
Anthony Raglani needs 15 walks to enter GW's all-time list, he currently has 75 (he had 56 after 2003).

Total Bases:
Jeff Fertitta needs 44 to enter GW's all-time list, he currently has 242 (he had 221 after 2003).
Ryan Roberson needs 53 to enter GW's all-time list, he currently has 233 (he had 172 after 2003).
Anthony Raglani needs 63 to enter GW's all-time list, he currently has 223 (he had 176 after 2003).

Hitting Streak:
Tom Shanley currently has a six-game hitting streak since coming back from a hamstring injury.
Tom Shanley started the 2004 season with an eight-game hitting streak.
Ryan Roberson had an eight-game hitting streak which started in the first game against Vermont.
Anthony Raglani had an eight-game hitting streak which started in the first game against Vermont.
Anthony Smith had a seven-game hitting streak which started in the second game against Vermont.
Tom Shanley had a 15-game hitting streak to start his collegiate career in 2003.

GW Pitching Records (Active Players)

Highest Winning Percentage:
1. 1.000 (9-0) Dan Pfau (2003-)
T2. .833 (5-1)Dennis Gramolini (2000-)
7. .727 (8-3) Josh Wilkie (2003-)

Saves:
T2. 10 Nick Koken is tied for second all-time at GW as a junior (he had 7 after 2003).

Victories: Dan Pfau needs five to enter GW's all-time list, he currently has nine (he had six after 2003).

Starts:
Dan Sullivan needs eight to enter GW's all-time list, he currently has 23 (he had 18 after 2003).

Appearances:
Dennis Gramolini needs four to enter GW's all-time list, he currently has 46 (he had 43 after 2003).
Nick Koken needs nine to enter GW's all-time list, he currently has 41 (he had 32 after 2003).
Avi Rasowsky needs nine to enter GW's all-time list, he currently has 41 (he had 30 after 2003).
Dan Sullivan needs 12 to enter GW's all-time list, he currently has 38 (he had 33 after 2003).