2018 MAAC Baseball Tournament
Richmond County Bank Ballpark (7,171)
Staten Island, NY
May 23-26, 2018
TV: ESPN+
Live Stats: StatBroadcast.com

Monmouth's First Game: Wednesday, 5/23 at 7:00 p.m. (Opponent yet to be determined)

Seeds
1: Monmouth
2: Quinnipiac
3: Canisius
4: Siena
5: Marist
6: Niagara

KEY TOURNAMENT NOTES
-This is Monmouth's highest seed since joining the MAAC.
-Monmouth has never had a bye in the MAAC Tournament before.
-MU clinched its first regular season title since 2011 (NEC).
-Monmouth is 3-6 all-time in MAAC Tournament games.
-Dean Ehehalt is 34-33 all-time in conference tournament games between the MAAC and NEC.
-MU has missed the conference tournament just twice in the last 21 years (2006, 2017).
-The Hawks have played every team in this year's tournament, finishing with a record of 8-7.
-MU won 13 of its last 14 league games to finish 16-7 after a 3-6 start.
-This is Monmouth's first conference tournament at Richmond County Bank Ballpark.

MAAC TOURNAMENT EXPERIENCE
Monmouth has 11 players that have played in a MAAC Tournament game previously, combining to total 19 games of postseason experience. Pete Papcun and Justin Trochiano lead the way at three games apiece, while Shaine Hughes has started a pair.

HAWKS AGAINST THE TOURNAMENT FIELD
Monmouth has posted an 8-7 record against this year's tournament field, and have played all five teams in the bracket. MU won series against three of the five, taking two of three from Siena and Canisius at home as well as sweeping Niagara on the road. MU lost two of three at Marist to open MAAC play and lost all three at Quinnipiac, two of them on walk offs.

KLEPCHICK WINS ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
At Tuesday's awards banquet, Dan Klepchick was named MAAC Rookie of the Year. The freshman is Monmouth's first ever Rookie of the Year in the MAAC, and first since Ryan Terry in 2008. Klepchick is the first MU pitcher to earn the top freshman honor since Ryan Buch in 2007. Klepchick was named MAAC Rookie of the Week six times this season, including the last four weeks of the year.

MU DOMINATES WEEKLY AWARDS
Monmouth had the league's Rookie of the Week eight times in 14 weeks of the season, including the final six weeks of the year. Dan Klepchick won it six times, including the final four and five of the last six. Nick Campana earned the honor in the week between, and Ryan Steckline picked up one earlier in the season as well. Klepchick also picked up two awards in one week, earning Pitcher and Rookie of the Week on May 8.

LONG MOVES TO LEADOFF SPOT
Danny Long had never hit leadoff in his career prior to being moved to the top spot to start the weekend at the Niagara. The move jumpstarted the Hawks, who have gone 15-3 since that point when Long hits at the top of the order, including 13-1 in MAAC play.

REGULAR SEASON CHAMPS
This year's regular season title is the first for Monmouth since joining the MAAC, and first for the Hawks overall since 2011 in the NEC. As a program, the Blue and White have won 10 regulart season titles, including eight under Dean Ehehalt. Ehehalt's first came in 1996, and he won four times in five years from 1998-2002.

STRIKEOUT RECORD
Monmouth has a chance to set the single-season strikeout record in school history, originally marked by the 2009 squad with 377 K's as a staff. This year's group has fanned 355 batters, 22 shy of the program high entering this weeks conference tournament.

WHAT A YEAR FOR COUNSELLOR
Austin Counsellor has posted unbelievable numbers in his senior season, pitching to a 0.88 ERA with three wins and five saves. He has allowed just four earned runs in 41 innings pitched, walking nine and striking out 36. His numbers in conference play are equally as good, with an ERA of 1.05 and three walks to 24 strikeouts in 25.2 innings. Opponents in the league have one extra base hit against him and are hitting .187.

THE BULLPEN IS A STRENGTH
MU has four relievers for the season that have posted an ERA under 2.14, all while throwing impact innings. Counsellor leads the way at 0.88, followed by Jordan McCrum's 1.93 mark and 19 K's in 18.2 IP. Ryan Lillie is also under 2.00 at 1.96, while freshman Ryan Steckline is at 2.14. Lillie and Steckline have combined to walk just three hitters in 39 innings this year as southpaws out of the pen.

UNCOVERING NORMAN
After the University of Buffalo cut its baseball program, Kyle Norman made the move to Monmouth and it immediately pair dividends for the Hawks. Norman and Shaine Hughes bounced back and forth all season long as the team's leading hitter, and Norman led MU with 57 hits and 12 doubles en route to All-MAAC Second Team honors. Norman had 16 multi-hit games and a five-hit day with three doubles against UMBC.

ALL-ACADEMIC
The Blue and White had four players named to the MAAC All-Academic Team, as seniors Ryan Lillie, Austin Counsellor and Pete Papcun earned honors along with junior Kyle Ajjan. Student-athletes must post a 3.20 cumulative GPA and must have spent at least a full year at their current institution.

APPROACHING MONMOUTH MILESTONES
Ricky Dennis: currently t-6 in wins with 18, needs one to tie Dan Severino in fifth
Shaine Hughes: currently sixth in hits with 233, needs four to tie Jake Gronsky for fifth
Shaine Hughes: currently sixth in doubles with 49, needs two to tie Nick Del Gozzo in fifth
Shaine Hughes: currently eighth in RBI's with 145, needs four to tie Ryan Terry for seventh
Shaine Hughes: currently eighth in walks with 89, needs one to tie Danny Avella for second
Pete Papcun: currently t-20 in doubles with 33, needs one to tie Dan Shea for 19th