PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College baseball team will begin its quest to return to the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship on Saturday, February 25 as the Cardinals, who will enter the season ranked eighth-nationally according to D3baseball.com, take on host Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md. before heading to the Sunshine State for seven games in the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational. 

Fisher, which has qualified for postseason play each year dating back to 2012, is set to return several key players from last season's squad that set a program record in wins and reached the Division III World Series for the first time in the team history after winning a Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship.  Head coach Brandon Potter heads into the 2017 campaign, his eighth at the helm, with 30 returning student-athletes after going 39-13 overall and 16-2 in Empire 8 Conference play during the 2016 season.  This season, for the first time in Empire 8 Conference history, the winner of the conference championship will receive an automatic bid into the NCAA Championship. 

"We have a talented and deep team that will compete with energy and effort every day," said Potter who has amassed a 210-92 overall career record at Fisher.  "We have a vision that we work towards every day."

Offensively, Fisher, which led the Empire 8 in several categories including batting average (.303), hits (543), doubles (137), RBI (340), runs (388), slugging percentage (.451) and triples (24), will be led by Nate Roethel, Scott Eisenmenger, Victor Konstantinovsky, Frank Carnevale, Malcolm Kelsey and Evan Ryan, each of whom was named All-Conference a season ago by the Empire 8.

Roethel led the team and ranked second among all position players in the conference with a .403 batting average.  The senior collected 54 hits in 134 at-bats and produced 19 extra base knocks overall.  Eisenmenger, who was also named Third-Team All-Region by the American Baseball Coaches Association, started 50 games at first base last season and accumulated 55 hits in 185 at-bats for a .297 average.  The junior infielder was Fisher's biggest power threat with a conference-leading 56 RBI and 10 homers.  Now in his third season at catcher, Konstantinovsky is expected to have a big season as the junior backstop is coming off a season in which he hit .289 (26-for-90).  The North Brunswick, N.J. native has also received some preseason recognition as Baseball America named him the sixth-best draft prospect in all of Division III earlier this month.  Kelsey wrapped up a strong junior season after ranking third on the team with a .331 batting average while Carnevale hit .312 with 13 extra base hits including 11 doubles.  Ryan is also expected to contribute to Fisher's success this season after playing in 52 games as a junior.  Senior Jack Trotman also returns to the lineup this season as the East Amherst native hit .294 last season in 43 games.
 
St. John Fisher also returns a strong corps of pitchers as the Cardinals posted a 2.98 team earned run average in 2016, which was the seventh-lowest of any Division III program.  The team's pitching staff should be further bolstered with the return of Dan Jurik as pitching coach.  Jurik, who became the first player in Fisher's history to be drafted into Major League Baseball, spent the last two seasons coaching for Division I University of Binghamton.  Three-time All-American Justin D'Amato also joined the program this offseason as an assistant coach after a decorated pitching career at Fisher, which included being named the Division III Pitcher of the Year in 2013.

On the mound, Jim Dawson returns for another year in a Fisher uniform after leading the conference in wins (9-2) and ERA (2.08) as a freshman.  Dawson held opposing hitters to just a .228 batting average and recorded a 1.08 WHIP.  Reliever Loukas Brigham should pick up where he left off as the Rochester, N.H. native was named All-Conference after posting 10 saves, which established a new Fisher record for most saves in a single season.  Brigham was named a Preseason All-American Honorable Mention by D3baseball.com this season after recording a 1.73 earned run average in 24 appearances on the hill last season.  Dominick Pisciotto and Kevin Berge are also expected to contribute on the mound in 2017.

Additionally, Ryan Felske looks to improve upon a solid sophomore season that saw him allow just four earned runs over 24.1 innings while DJ Mendenhall recorded a 1.20 ERA in 15 appearances. 

After starting the season in Florida, where the team will face three nationally-ranked opponents, Fisher will travel to Pennsylvania to take on Haverford in a doubleheader March 18 before facing No. 19 Kean University the following day in Union, N.J.

The Cardinals will play their first game at Dugan Yard on March 22 when they host The College at Brockport before shipping off to Ithaca for a three-game series with the Bombers March 25-26 to open up conference play.  From there, the team will travel to the University of Rochester on March 29.

Two days later, Fisher hosts SUNY Canton for three games before back-to-back road games against Rochester Institute of Technology on April 5 and Brockport on April 7.

St. Lawrence University comes to Pittsford for three games April 8-9 followed by a twin-billing at No. 12 Oswego State April 11.  The Cardinals return home on April 14 for three games against Empire 8 foe, Utica College.

Fisher will play seven of its final nine games on the road beginning with Elmira College on April 19 followed by a three-game set with Houghton April 21-22.  Elmira then comes to Dugan yard for a doubleheader on April 26 before the Cardinals take to the road again for three games in Hoboken, N.J. against Stevens Institute of Technology.  Potter's squad closes out the regular season against R.I.T. on May 3 with the Empire 8 Championship set to begin May 11. 

"We challenged ourselves with a competitive schedule," said Potter.  "We look forward to how competitive and fun it will be."

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