The 2009 Massachusetts Maritime spring sports season officially begins on Saturday morning (February 28th) when Head Coach Bob Corradi's Baseball Bucs take on Alvernia University (Pa.) in a non-league doubleheader in Fort Pierce, Fla. beginning at 10:00 a.m. EST.
The Buccaneers have a bevy of experience returning to the lineup in 2009, as Corradi begins his 37th season at the helm just seven wins shy of the 500 career victory plateau. Senior co-captain Mark Mozelak (New Hartford, Conn./Northwestern Regional), junior David Hike (Riverview, Fla./Riverview) and sophomore Nick Levitre (Grafton, Mass./Grafton) each earned all-MASCAC accolades last spring (with Levitre copping league Rookie of the Year honors), as 17 letterwinners are back in the fold for Massachusetts Maritime this season.
The Bucs will face an Alvernia squad that has three games under its belt in the early going, as the Crusaders dropped two of three contests to Virginia Wesleyan last weekend in Norfolk, Va., with the lone win coming in a 10-6 triumph in the opening game of the series.
Massachusetts Maritime will wrap-up its Southern swing on Sunday afternoon (March 1st) with a non-league match-up with Elizabethtown in Fort Pierce, Fla. beginning at Noon EST. The Blue Jays dropped their season opener on February 21st to host Shenandoah by a 7-4 final in Winchester, Va.
The Buccaneers, who finished 22-14 overall under 2008 MASCAC Coach of the Year Corradi last spring, will then be idle until Saturday, March 21st when Massachusetts Maritime opens both its home and Northern slates with a non-league doubleheader against Rivier at Commodore Hendy Field beginning at Noon EST.