Meanwhile, sophomore returnees include, T.J. Alcorn, Sal Amato, Chris Coutros, T.J. Griffin, Ryan Kiczek, Corey Linden, John Martelle, Rudy Morin, Tom Phillips, Chris Tucci, Vincent Vinci, and Brad Warren. Phillips and Vinci return after each enjoying breakout seasons as freshmen and earning NJCBA All-Rookie team honors. A patient hitter, Phillips drew 36 walks on the year – good for second on the program’s single-season charts – while sporting a team-high .444 on-base percentage. The then-freshman second baseman also nabbed a team-high 22 bases, while scoring 32 runs. “Tom (Phillips) did a great job as a freshman last year getting on base and he’ll be in the lead-off spot. We expect him to be in that 30-stolen base range and he should score a lot of runs for us,” explained Crane. “He’s the prototypical lead-off guy. He can not only get on base, but he can drive the ball and hit it out of the ballpark to start off the game and we’ll have him and Rasulo in some combination at the top of the order.” Vinci finished the season ranked second in strikeouts (32) among all Division II and III rookies in New Jersey. He posted a record of 2-3 with a 5.74 earned run average, but went 2-0 with 24 strikeouts in his final16 innings pitched (four appearances). The Howell, N.J. native also earned the win in Stevens’ first-ever ECAC Tournament victory, tossing five innings and striking out eight against the College of Mount Saint Vincent. Rounding out the Stevens’ squad this season are a talented collection of freshmen in Tyler Courter, Chris Daniele, Michael Donovan, Craig Leopold, Kevin Mathews, Mark Poinsett, Matt Rodgers, and Cory Stryker. As a team, Stevens smashed a single-season school record 34 homeruns, ranking first in the conference. The Ducks also led the league in on-base percentage (.395), steals (98), and walks (172), while ranking second in runs scored (258). Defensively, Stevens ranked first in nine of the conference’s statistical categories including, fielding percentage (.957), putouts (958), assists (477), and double-plays (33), while the Ducks’ pitching staff ranked third in ERA (5.73) and strikeouts (205). “We have our whole pitching staff back from last year and that kind of continuity will certainly help us. We also led the league in fielding percentage, so we feel like our pitching and defense are going to be strengths of ours,” Crane said. “Offensively, we feel like we have excellent team speed and we’re going to have one of the deeper lineups we’ve had since I’ve been here.” In order to reach its goals, the Ducks will first have to navigate a challenging non-league schedule before beginning their equally rigorous conference slate. Stevens will open its season at home on February 21, when it plays host to the College of Staten Island. From there the Ducks take on preseason No. 6 Kean University on February 27 before hosting Mount Saint Mary College on February 28. Stevens also takes on No. 3 Eastern Connecticut State University on March 10 and No. 17 SUNY Cortland on March 14, along with defending Liberty League champion Clarkson University on March 15. The Ducks are also slated to face Rowan University (3/19), William Paterson University (3/27), and Rutgers University – Newark (3/28) from the always competitive New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC). Stevens begins its Empire 8 schedule on April 2-3 against No. 23 Ithaca College. Following the home-stand with the Bombers, the Ducks take a break from league play to face the College of Mount St. Vincent (4/5) and GwyneddMercy College (4/7). The Ducks will then face league rival St. John Fisher College on April 10-11 before facing Drew University and Utica College on April 14 and April 17-18, respectively. Stevens then hits the road for dates with SUNY Old Westbury and 2009 NJAC champion The College of New Jersey on April 25 and April 27 before returning home to wrap up its regular season against Rochester Institute of Technology on May 1-2. “Our philosophy has always been to play a challenging schedule. I think playing that schedule serves as a measuring stick for us. It shows us where we are and we have those games spread throughout the season,” Crain explained. “We open up Empire 8 play with Ithaca, who’s always a top-25 team, so that will be a big challenge for us right out of the shute. Then we have Fisher who won the ECAC Upstate last year the following weekend. Utica has a good
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