Siena - UAlbany Rivalry Series Preview
Logos courtesy of the Siena and UAlbany athletics departments. Graphic designed by Gavin Butler of TheRundownPod.
The Siena Saints (10-22, 6-12 MAAC) will take on the UAlbany Great Danes (9-20, 5-7 America East) in a home-and-home rivalry series starting this Friday, April 17th. The series was originally scheduled for one game each Friday through Sunday with an additional fourth game Tuesday; due to weather the series is now scheduled for one game Friday, two games Saturday and the conclusion of the series still to be played on Tuesday. Friday and Tuesday’s games will take place at the Saints’ home field of Connors Park, while UAlbany will host the Saturday doubleheader at Varsity Field. First pitch of the series is set for 3 PM EST on Friday.
These teams have gone to battle against one another six times since UAlbany’s move to the Division I level in 1999, with the Great Danes having taken five of the six. Last year, Siena took the first game of the season series 12-7 at home, and UAlbany would go on to sweep the doubleheader three weeks later at their home ground (20-9, 18-11). It is worth noting that the home team has taken the last three meetings between these two, after all three prior matchups were Great Dane wins on the road at Siena.
Siena’s projected Friday starter is Colonie native and Pittsburgh transfer Sam Falace. After enduring an injury-riddled start to his career, Falace has found a special groove as of late and has really hit his stride as a weekend starter for the Saints. In his last three starts, Falace has pitched to a 1.04 ERA and 1.21 WHIP in 17.1 innings. Falace has also struck out 17 batters in that span. Expect to see Tyler Sausville get the nod for one of the two Saturday games, whose recent pitching performance on April 3rd propelled the Saints to victory against Mount St. Mary’s.
UAlbany has yet to announce their weekend rotation, but reigning America East Pitcher of the Week Dylan Banner is sure to get a nod. Banner struck out 10 in a no-decision en route to UAlbany’s 6-3 win over Bryant last weekend. Christian Mello and Ethan Nardacci are also likely to start for the Great Danes throughout the series. This pair has done an excellent job at limiting the long ball, combining for just two surrendered all season.
UAlbany reliever Matthew Mariano has been incredible so far this season, as his 1.09 ERA is the second lowest in the nation heading into Friday. Mariano ranks behind only UCSB’s Jackson Flora in ERA, and he leads the Great Danes’ bullpen in innings pitched as well. UAlbany’s lineup has been powered by outfielders Michael Maggio and Tre Mariano, who hold OPS figures of .780 and .884 respectively. Maggio has been the Danes’ most impressive contact hitter so far with a batting average of .326, while Tre Mariano has been a slugging machine with 5 doubles in his last 5 games and a season-long slugging percentage of .519.
Siena catcher Aidan Paradine is putting together another extremely impressive season at the plate. After leading the Saints in hits, runs scored and OPS in 2025, the Redshirt Sophomore leads his team in hits, runs scored, RBI, doubles, and home runs so far this year. Outfielder Vincent Venditti paces the starting lineup in batting average at .311, and looks to continue his excellent plate discipline into this series having recorded more walks than strikeouts in this campaign.
UAlbany will enter this game following their victory against CCSU on Tuesday, in which Kyle Stephens recorded a walk-off fielder’s choice as a pinch hitter to win 7-6. Siena will look to gain some momentum against their cross-town rival as they are on a three game losing streak and have won just one of their last six games. These two teams reside less than ten miles from one another, and this should make for a tightly contested series throughout.
