Baseball | 5/26/2016 12:02:00 PM

The St. John Fisher College baseball program will make its first-ever appearance at the NCAA Division III College World Series this weekend in Appleton, Wisconsin.    The Cardinals will square off in their first game against Keystone College at 4:30 p.m. (CST) on Friday at Fox Cities Stadium.

Fans who have made the trip can attend the Championship's Opening Ceremonies on Thursday, complete with fireworks and free giveaways for the first 750 fans.   Ticket information and pricing can be found on the Championship's home page.

Fans not able to make the trip, can still follow the action be watching the NCAA live webcast, complete with play-by-play and color commentary.   You can also follow via live-stats, or by following Fisher Athletics on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Fisher will play at least one more game on Saturday against either LaRoche College or University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, the other two teams in the Pool A pod.  The winner of the four-team double-elimination pool will advance to the championship game in a best-of-three series.

Fisher is enjoying by far the best season in the program's 29-year history.   Led by seventh-year coach Brandon Potter, who owns a 209-90 record, the Cardinals have set a new record for wins in a season with 38 so far (the previous record was 31), including four victories at last week's Mid-Atlantic Regional.    In three of the four games, Fisher found itself tied or trailing going into the eighth inning, but rallied each times for victories.  Fisher's 8-2 win over Kean University on Saturday marked the program's first-ever regional title.

The Cardinals rely on their pitching, which ranks second nationally in earned run average, but the offense has also enjoyed an extremely productive year, with Fisher ranking in the top 10 nationally in runs scored, doubles and triples.

Fisher's top four starting pitchers – Stephen Lewis, Marc Iseneker, Terry Engels and Jim Dawson – each have an ERA under 2.60 and have a combined record of 29-4 on the year.  All four pitchers made starts in the regional championships that went at least 7.0 innings.   Setup specialists DJ Mendenhall and Ryan Felske have allowed a combined four runs over 33 innings, while sophomore closer Loukas Brigham set the Fisher record for saves with 10 and ranks ninth nationally in total saves.

Offensively, Fisher will look to its seniors Mike Roman and Cody Wiktorski to anchor down the left side of the infield.  Roman, Fisher's starting shortstop for all 49 games this year, is Fisher's all-time leader in games played and ranks third at Fisher in career hits.   Last week, he was named as the Regional's Most Outstanding Player.
Wiktorski, Fisher's starting third baseman, leads the Cardinals this year in runs scored and extra bases hits, including 10 home runs, tying the Fisher single-season record.

Sophomore first baseman Scott Eisenmenger has also hit 10 home runs this year and has 18 in his two-year career, tying the College's all-time record.  He also set a Fisher single-season with 56 RBI this spring.