ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College baseball team will travel down to Virginia to begin its 2017 season on February 25-26 with a load of talent and experience on offense and defense. Ithaca will play three games in the Old Dominion State against Virginia Wesleyan College (two) and SUNY Brockport this weekend, opening with Brockport at 11 a.m. on Saturday,

After the trip to Virginia, the Bombers will then head to Long Island the following weekend for three more contests before they take their annual cross-country trip to California for spring break. While out west, Ithaca will play seven games against California foes from March 12-18.

Ithaca, which owns the nation's longest consecutive winning seasons at 74 years, will look to build off a successful end to the 2016 campaign that resulted in another Empire 8 Conference Championship and an overall record of 27-15. The Bombers defeated St. John Fisher College, a participant in the NCAA College World Series last year, in a 9-7 extra innings battle for the conference title. It was Ithaca's five straight Empire 8 championship and 14th overall. This season's Empire 8 Tournament will be the first time ever that the conference winner will receive an automatic qualifier to the NCAA Championship.

Head Coach George Valesente, now in his 39th season at his alma mater, welcomes back 20 student-athletes from a year ago and all but one starter in its lineup.

"We are excited about the experience we return to our lineup, both offensively and defensively," stated Valesente. "It's a luxury to bring back that many players from a season ago that were able to contribute as much as they did, and we have a great mix of upper and lowerclassmen on the team."

All eight of those returners landed on the Empire 8 All-Conference teams in 2016, highlighted by Sam Little, who was named the Rookie of the Year and first-team honoree. Little also garnered D3baseball.com New York Region Rookie of the Year and a third-team all-region nod after a campaign which culminated in a .329 batting average with 41 RBI, seven doubles, five homeruns, 20 walks and four assists from right field.

Senior tri-captains Trevor Thompson, Josh Savacool and Ryan Henchey are all back in the lineup this spring. Thompson, a second-team member and shortstop, appeared in all 42 games last season and finished with a .318 average, 47 hits, 16 doubles, six homeruns and 33 RBI. Savacool, the Bombers' sure-handed second baseman, found a spot on the second-team as a junior after batting .301 with 46 hits and a team-leading 39 runs scored. Henchey, a first-teamer, will make the transition from behind the plate to third base this year. He ranked third on the squad with a .327 average and drew a team-best 24 walks, to go along with six doubles and four round trippers.

Junior Domenic Boresta will once again patrol centerfield for the Bombers after a second-team campaign last spring. Boresta put together a stellar second half of the season, which rose his average from .079 to .268 in just 13 games. During that stretch, he had a nine-game hitting streak and went 18-for-32 at the plate (.563).

Sophomores Andrew Bailey, Matt Carey and Webb Little will look to build off their freshmen seasons that all resulted in all-conference recognition. Bailey will serve as a designated hitter and pitcher this season, as he hit .273 last spring with 20 RBI and made nine relief appearances. Carey, who hit .308 with 32 runs scored and 11 doubles in 39 games played, will man leftfield in 2017. W. Little, another Bomber who finished off 2016 with a hot bat; elevated his average .228 points (.100 to .328) in 26 contests. He tallied 44 hits, 30 RBI, 11 doubles and four homers a freshman and will move across the infield to first this year.

Other returners to the roster this season, senior Ryan Dougherty (.273, 13 runs, 12 hits), and sophomores Jake Generali (.325, 13 hits, nine RBI), Adam Gallagher (.273, two homers, 14 RBI), Cam Fuoti (.200, four hits, two runs), John Peterson, Jackson Smith and Garrett Snyder, will all compete for playing time this season.

Newcomers to the Bombers in 2017 are as follows: junior Jeff Gritsavage, and freshmen Ben Kutler and Andrew Wollner.

Despite the plethora of talent on offense, Ithaca will need to replace a majority of its pitching staff due to the graduation of four arms (All-America John Prendergast, Benji Parkes, Ryan Contegni and Brandon Diorio) that accounted for a 195.1 innings pitched, 19 victories and three saves.

"Our pitching staff has the potential to develop into a solid group, but we need to see who will step up," expressed Valesente. "We are fortunate to have three transfers – two from Division I – that have made an immediately impact in the rotation during the offseason. The staff needs to allow our defense to help alleviate pressure throughout the season and we will be successful."

Jack Morello transfers to Ithaca from St. John's University, while Jake Binder played at Fairfield University last season, and Robby Buffis pitched at Alvernia University in 2016.

Senior Logan Barer is expected to take on a larger role this season as the lone senior on the staff. Barer tossed 22.2 innings last season and struck out 22 batters in 14 appearances.

Junior Tyler Hill ate up more than 80 innings last season and posted a 3.31 ERA with a 5-7 record and 46 strikeouts.

Sophomore Zach Zottola tossed 16 innings over 10 appearances and fanned 10 hitters, while juniors Chad Bartlett and Chris Marinaccio each made one appearance last season.

Bailey will see some time on the mound in 2017, as will W. Little as the team's closer.

Sophomore Matt Eiel, and freshmen Tom Cosentino and Christian LaLomia will compete for innings as well. Another crew of freshmen, Benjamin Cordova, Sam Perri and Yutaro Yamaguchi could see some time throughout the spring.

The Bombers will face a tough stretch of games when they return to New York as they make their home debut on March 21 against the nation's No. 1 team, SUNY Cortland, at 3 p.m. On the 25th and 26th, eighth-ranked Fisher comes to Freeman Field for three games, and then No. 12 SUNY Oswego visits South Hill on the 28th.

For the remainder of the 43-game slate, follow this link to the 2017 schedule. The Empire 8 Tournament is scheduled to begin on May 11.