Niagara Purple Eagles
* Went 38-15 overall and 20-4 in Mid-American Athletic Conference (MAAC) (runner-up to Fairfield)
* Won the MAAC tournament championship as the No. 2 seed, upsetting Fairfield in the championship game to get the automatic bid.
* They have won 8 games in a row (which includes going 3-0 in the MAAC tournament)
* This will be Niagara's first trip ever to the NCAA tournament.
Highlights of schedule:
* Swept by UNC-Ashville
* Lost 2 of 3 to Queens University
* Lost 2 of 3 to Fairfield (during conference schedule)
* Split with James Madison (who is in the tournament)
* Lost 2 of 3 to Michigan State (only Power 5 team on their schedule)
* Lost twice to Le Moyne
When on offense
Niagara has six regulars batting over .300. They have FIVE left-handed sticks in their lineup.
* Niagara is led by Eric Rataczak, their left-handed hitting first baseman who bats third in their lineup and is a RS Junior.
He leads the Purple Eagles in just about every offensive category, including batting average (.402 ), home runs (16), doubles (14), runs batted in (67), runs scored (57), HBPs (8), as well as at-bats, OPS, Slug %, and OB%. He's only struck out 23 times in 252 plate appearances.
* Nick Groves is their left-handed hitting sophomore leadoff hitter and CF. He's hitting .326 with 12 2BLs and 3 HRs. He has stole 19 bases in 25 chances.
* Brady Desjardins is a junior SS and right-handed stick who normally bats second in the lineup. He's hitting .316 with 12 doubles and 6 home runs. He leads the team in walks with 38 BBs and has stolen 6 bases.
* Gavin Schrader is another lefty stick. He is their sophomore cleanup hitter and normally the DH. He's hitting .314. He is second on the team to Rataczak in doubles (13), home runs (9), RBI (47), runs scored (54), OPS (.943), and SLG% (.524).
* Nick Monile is a left-handed hitting freshman outfielder who bats ninth, but is second on the team in batting average at .340. He has 4 doubles, 2 triples, and 3 home runs. He also has 9 steals on 10 attempts.
* Rees Kozar (FR., RF, .309, 8 HR), Matt Ward (SR., C., .286, 4 HR), Kelly Corl (SR, 2B, .284, 4 HR), and Vincent Mauro (JR., 3B, .269, 6 HR, lefty) round out their lineup.
Pitching
The Niagara starting pitching leaves a lot to be desired. Their three main starters are:
* Maximilian (gotta love the name) Ramirez (4-5, 15 starts, 6.38 ERA, 55 IP, 1.93 WHIP)
* Preston Prince (0-1, 10 starts, 4.95 ERA, 36 IP, 1.90 WHIP)
* Gage Wheaton (0-1, 9 starts, 5.82 ERA, 38 IP, 1.81 WHIP)
All three have had issues with walks. Ramirez 43 BB in 55 IP, Prince 39 in 36, and Wheaton 41 in 38.
Only one other pitcher (Brady Kobitowich, 0-1, 5 starts, 9.00 ERA) has more than 3 starts on the bump.
But the Niagara bullpen has some guys with some nice numbers:
Zach Cameron, Blake MacMillan, Ryan Minckler, Noah Richardson, and Steven Hospital apparently have all stepped up when the starters faltered.
* Cameron is 8-1 with a 2.95 ERA and has 55 IP - all in relief - to tie Ramirez in that category. He has a 1.11 whip (that's very good) with 11 saves.
* MacMillan has just two starts and five total appearances in just 12 innings, but has an 0.73 ERA and a whip of 0.65, having given up just 4 walks and 4 hits.
....He actually started and went 4 1/3 in the MAAC championship game against Fairfield.
* Minckler is 6-1 in 19 relief appearances (no starts). He has a 3.83 ERA in 49 1/3 innings pitched.
* Richardson is 7-0 in 26 relief appearances (no starts). He's struck out 55 in just 31 innings and has a 4.94 ERA, but he also has surrendered 29 walks in those 31 innings.
* Hospital is 2-2 with a 4.30 ERA in 25 appearances (3 starts) and has thrown 37 2/3 innings.
That's a bullpen that has three guys that have more innings this season than two of the starts and have a collective record of 23-4.
Summary
* Like many #4 seeds, Niagara comes in hot with an upset win of their conference tournament. We can't sleep on them.
* That being said, we got a really nice first-round draw (versus someone like the good DBU or ORU squads we've faced in the first round in the past)
* They faced - and lost to - a lot of mediocre to bad teams. Jump on them quick and make them feel like they don't belong on the same field with us.
* Rataczak has outstanding numbers and you can't let him beat you.
* Between Rataczak and Joc Caglianone of Florida (.415 with 29 bombs, expected to be one of the top picks in the draft), you have two of the elite hitters in the whole NCAA tournament.
* Between Caglianone and Benge, you have perhaps the two top two-way players in the nation.
* It would behoove OSU to jump on whoever the starter is for Niagara and get into their pen quick and force them to have to extend it.
* As mentioned by others, with five lefties in the lineup, going with Garcia in the opener makes a lot of sense.
* With Benge stepping up at No. 3, you don't feel like you have to hold back on using Garcia and Holiday in the opening round as an overwhelming favorite.
I'll try to do a scouting report on Nebraska and Florida later.
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