MOUNT UPDATE: The Mount lost at Towson, 14-2, on Wednesday to fall to 6-10 on the year.  Sophomore Stephan Fay continued his hot start, blasting his Northeast Conference leading fourth home run in the loss.  Freshman Josh Vittek followed Fay's shot with his first collegiate home run...Fay is on a four-game hitting streak, going 8-for-12 (.667) with two home runs and seven RBI...Senior Adam Schlenoff had his seven-game hit streak snapped at Towson...Schlenoff is 13-for-30 (.433) at the plate over the past eight games...First team all-NEC hurler Dustin Pease (Baltimore, MD/Archbishop Spalding) served as the team's closer last weekend and recorded a save in the win over Sacred Heart.  Pease appeared in all four of the Mount's games last week.  He permitted just one single, struck out seven, limited opponents to a .148 average and did not allow an earned run in 7.0 innings.  On the year, Pease is just 1-2, but his 2.52 ERA is fifth best in the NEC...Junior righthander Justin Davis (Baltimore, MD/Catonsville) tallied eight strikeouts vs. Sacred Heart in earning the win on Friday.  Over his past four appearances, Davis is 2-1 with a save, as well as a 3.18 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 17 innings pitched...Joe Hayes, who is tied for the NEC lead with 11 RBI, is hitting .538 (7-for-13) with runners in scoring position.

ABOUT THE TERRIERS: St. Francis (N.Y.) enters today's game with a 1-9 record and an 0-0 record in the NEC...The Terriers were swept in a doubleheader by Army last Saturday, falling 1-0 and 10-0 to the Black Knights...Tommy Curry leads St. Francis with a .294 average while Greg Colonna is hitting .281...St. Francis is hitting .196 on the year and has an 11.47 team ERA...Marc Lussier leads the pitching staff with an 0-1 record and a 4.26 ERA.

THE ALL-TIME SERIES: The Terriers hold a 28-14 edge in the all-time series with the Mount, including a 16-4 mark vs. the Mount at home  The Mount is 10-11 at home vs. St. Francis and has won five of the past eight meetings..  Last year, the Mount went 2-0 vs. the Terriers, winning a doubleheader at Golibart Field on campus.  Head coach Scott Thomson is 7-11 in his career vs. the Terriers.

LAST YEAR'S MEETINGS:  The Mount swept a doubleheader with the Terriers at Golibart Field on April 5 last year.  The Mount won the first game, 17-5, and rallied for a 10-7 win in game two. The Mount pounded out 19 hits en route to the 17-5 victory in the first game. Mount St. Mary's scored three times in each of the first four innings to take control of the game. Senior Burt Stormes opened the scoring with a two-run double in the bottom of the first. Stormes added a two-run homer to left in the second that gave the Mount a 6-0 lead.   The Terriers fought back with five runs in the top of the third. Anthony Giudice doubled home a pair of runs while Greg Colonna added a two-run single in the inning. The Mount regained the momentum with a Danny Fowler and a Jason Weszka (Mt. Airy, Md./Glenelg) two-run single in the bottom of the third for a 9-5 advantage. Dustin Pease tossed a complete game, striking out four and allowing six hits to improve to 4-1 on the season. Stormes was 2-for-4 with four RBIs while Adam Schlenoff (Lutherville, Md./Loyola Blakefield) was 3-for-5 with a pair of RBIs in the game. Leadoff hitter John Di Girolamo (Pennlyn, Pa./Germantown Academy) was 3-for-4 with three runs scored and three RBIs in the game. Every Mount starter had a hit in the first game with seven players recording multiple-hit games. In the second game, Mount St. Mary's rallied a three-run deficit to earn the win. Trailing 6-3 heading into the bottom of the fourth, the Mount scored three times to knot the score at 6-6. Fowler was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, Jim Jefferson (Lindenwold, N.J./Overbrook regional) added a sacrifice fly, and Di Girolamo tied the game with a single through the right side in the inning. The Mount gained the lead with four runs in the bottom of the fifth. Eric Smith singled up the middle to snap the 6-6 tie and Stormes followed with a two-run double down the left field line to make the score 9-6. Schlenoff added an RBI single for the Mount's final run.  

PRESEASON PICKS: The Mount was picked to finish fifth in the Northeast Conference in a preseason poll of conference coaches. The Mount was sixth in the league last year after posting a 10-13 mark in league play. Three-time defending champion Central Connecticut State has been tabbed the preseason favorite to capture the 2005 Northeast Conference baseball championship. Quinnipiac was picked second and claimed a single first place vote, just ahead of third place Monmouth. Wagner, which was awarded the remaining first place vote, was chosen fourth, followed by Mount St. Mary's, Long Island, St. Francis (NY), Sacred Heart and Fairleigh Dickinson.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK:  Mount St. Mary's freshman pitcher Andrew Germuth has been named the Northeast Conference Rookie of the Week.  The 6-0 righthander went 1-0 with a 2.92 ERA in two starts last week.  With his addition to the rotation, Mount St. Mary's now sports a trio of formidable starting pitchers as Germuth joins teammates Dustin Pease and Justin Davis on the mound.  Germuth posted a 1-0 record with a 2.92 earned run average, 12 strikeouts and just one walk in two starts last week.  He earned his first collegiate victory in the Mount's 9-5 win at Georgetown on Tuesday, allowing two earned runs on five hits over 5.2 innings.  Germuth went on to strike out a season-high seven batters, but did not figure in the decision in the Mountaineers' 4-3 loss to Sacred Heart on Saturday.  In that contest, he permitted two runs on seven hits in a 6.2 inning stint.  Germuth is now 1-0 and ranks sixth in the NEC with a 2.75 ERA in 19.2 innings of work on the year.  He has struck out 19 batters and opponents are hitting just .233 against the righthander.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Mount St. Mary's baseball players Eric Smith (Marlton, N.J./St. Joseph's Prep [Pa.]) and Dustin Pease (Baltimore, Md./Archbishop Spalding) have been named the Northeast Conference Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively. Smith had a hit in all five games he played during the week, going 7-for-18 over the five-game span. Smith went 3-for-5 and hit a walk-off two-run homerun in the bottom of the ninth inning in the Mount's 7-5 win over Maine. Smith was 1-for-2 with a run scored and a walk in the Mount's 3-2 win over Northeastern. On the year, he leads Mount St. Mary's with a .381 average and has posted a six-game hitting streak to start the season. Smith is the first Mount player to earn NEC Player of the Week honors since Jeff Koening in March of 2002. Pease was 1-0 with a 1.42 ERA in 12.2 innings pitched during the Mount's trip to Florida. Pease allowed only one earned run in 6.2 innings pitched in his only start of the week, a no-decision vs. Northeastern. He recorded a victory in the Mount's 7-5 win over Maine, allowing one run in three innings. Pease held opponents to a .214 average on the week.

FRESHMAN ALL-AMERICAN: Sophomore Dustin Pease went 8-4 lastyear with a 3.19 ERA, earning First Team All-NEC and NEC Rookie of the Year honors. Pease also was named to the 2004Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American squad.

BASEBALL AMERICA PRESEASON HONORS: The Mount was picked to finish fifth in the annual Baseball America college preview. Sophomore Dustin Pease was named to the preseason All-Conference team at pitcher.

HEAD COACH: Scott Thomson is entering his eighth season at the helm of the Mount baseball program. Last year, Thomson guided the Mount to a school-record 25 victories. It was the third time in seven seasons that Thomson's teams have bested the school mark for wins. He earned his 100th win last year and has a 112-216 mark all-time at the Mount