The Mercy College baseball team is preparing for a repeat run into the East Coast Conference Championships, and is announcing the game schedule for the 2011 season.  In all, Mercy has scheduled 50 games, including 30 East Coast Conference games. Several local rivals dot the competitive schedule, which includes a spring trip to Florida.

Mercy Baseball will look to improve on its 19-28 record from a year ago. Joining All-East Coast Conference outfielder Matt Walsh and three other returning starters will be 17 new freshman and two transfers.

"We have a great group of players," said second-year head coach Bob Greiner. "We have pitching, we can hit, we can throw. This should be a fun year for Mercy College."

Mercy kicks off the season with a doubleheader at Adelphi on Feb. 26 before playing Franklin Pierce on March 4 at Baseball Heaven.

The Sunshine State is the next destination for the baseball team, who will spend eight days in Fort Pierce. Among the games are the schedule are tilts with regional powers Southern Connecticut State, New Haven, and University of Massachusetts-Lowell.

The Blue and White will play their first game on campus against Southern New Hampshire on Mar. 19, which kicks off six straight games in Dobbs Ferry for Mercy.  The Mavericks will host Southern New Hampshire for a second time, as well as Dominican, Post, Caldwell, and Nyack.

East Coast Conference play begins for Mercy on Mar. 29 when the Mavericks travel to Oakdale to take on Dowling, for the first of a five game series.  The Blue and White continue Conference play with series against Molloy, Queens (N.Y.), C.W. Post, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Bridgeport, with a non-conference game against Pace to be played in Dobbs Ferry on Apr. 19.  Mercy closes out the season at Bridgeport on May 8.

Last season, the Mavericks made a miraculous run to end the season, winning five consecutive conference games to claim the fourth seed in the ECC Championships.

The Mavericks dropped their first game of the double-elimination Championships to top-seeded C.W. Post, 11-5.  The Blue and White won their second game, shutting out and eliminating St. Thomas Aquinas 5-0.  In their third game, the Mavericks were eliminated with a 7-3 loss to Molloy.