Bruno’s baseball season will begin in Baton Rouge, La., this weekend, as the Bears face off against the No. 4 Louisiana State University Tigers tonight at 8 p.m.
“It will be a great experience for many of the players to play against a top-10 team in front of 10,000 people,” said Head Coach Marek Drabinski. “I tell them to try and get a W. It does not matter who you play. Do the best you can every time you put on a uniform.”
New assistant coaches Grant Achilles and Mike McCormack were previously assistant coaches at Georgetown University and St. Mary’s College of California, respectively.
“They have brought a good, positive atmosphere to the team,” said JJ Franco ’14, an infielder. “They are very committed to their job and have spent a lot of time with the hitters.”
“The team has gotten a lot stronger. We are really eager for the first game,” Franco said, adding that the squad’s conditioning has been much harder than in the past.
Over the course of this month, the Bears will be playing on the road against highly-regarded teams, including LSU and Auburn University. Ivy League play begins March 30 against Cornell, the 2012 Ivy League champions.
Bruno is coming off a 9-35 season (Ivy 6-14), during which the team was plagued with many injuries. But with the return of key players, as well as a strong group of first-years, the expectations are high, Drabinski said.
“Every season our top goal is to win the league,” Drabinski said. “The key difference between this year’s team and last year’s is the talent and depth — we definitely have players that are capable of attaining All-Ivy honors, including possible first-teamers.”
Bruno’s first home contest of the year comes April 2 against Bryant University. The Bears will take on several conference opponents at home in April, including four games against Harvard as well as two home games each against Penn, Columbia and Yale. Ivy League play ends on April 27 in a doubleheader against the Yale Bulldogs.
Bruno will also play Nicholls State University Saturday and Sunday.
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