George Washington University Athletics
Baseball Begins 2018 Campaign at Florida Atlantic
2/15/2018 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Elliott RaimoSo. | 6'4" - 195
RHP
Albany, N.Y.
Raimo was an Atlantic 10 All-Rookie and ABCA All-East Region Second Team pick as a freshman and will be GW's Saturday starter in the season-opening series. He pitched to a 3.20 ERA with a team-best 73 strikeouts in his first season while holding opponents to a .216 batting average.
LEADING OFF: The George Washington baseball team will open the 2018 season with a six-game swing through Florida over the next two weeks, starting with a three-game series at Florida Atlantic University this weekend in Boca Raton, Florida.
REWIND: GW turned in its second 30-win season of the last three seasons in 2017 by finishing with a 31-27 overall mark and a trip to the Atlantic 10 Championship. The Colonials won their first A-10 Championship opener since 2003 with a 6-4 win over Saint Louis before bowing out of the tournament later in the week.
LOOK WHO'S BACK: The Colonials return 19 letterwinners from last season's squad, including a handful of All-Conference and/or All-Region performers in sophomore Nate Fassnacht (A-10 All-Rookie), sophomore Elliott Raimo (A-10 All-Rookie, ABCA All-East Region Second Team), junior Will Kobos (ABCA All-East Region Second Team) and senior Robbie Metz (Atlantic 10 All-Conference Second Team).
NEW FACES: Plenty of new faces can be found throughout GW's roster, with many expected to make immediate impacts following the departure of last season's heralded senior class. The group of newcomers includes nine freshmen, three JUCO transfers (juniors Dominic D'Alessandro, Pat Knight and Nathan Woods) as well as senior Isaiah Pasteur who sat out last season due to NCAA transfer rules.
D'Alessandro was a two-time NJCAA Division III All-American Second Team pick at Rowan College. He batted .395 in his sophomore season with 22 doubles, 12 home runs, 77 RBI and 45 runs. He will see time from the start at designated hitter and first base.
Knight is penciled in as GW's Opening Day starter on Friday. The 6-3 southpaw pitched to a 9-3 record with 80 strikeouts over 82 innings at Brookedale Community College last spring.
Woods was an All-Conference and All-Region starting pitcher at North Lake College (Texas) and posted a 2.03 ERA and 88 punchouts over 15 starts last season.
Pasteur played two seasons at Indiana before joining the Colonials last season. He was able to compete over the summer for the Loudon Riverdogs in the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League. He was named an All-Star after batting .308 over 31 games with eight doubles, four triples, 15 RBI and 20 stolen bases. Pasteur is a versatile defender who will see time in both the infield and outfield.
PRESEASON PICK: The Colonials were picked to finish sixth in the conference in the annual Atlantic 10 Preseason Coaches Poll. GW totaled 105 points in the poll, but a razor-thin margin saw the team separated from fourth-place George Mason by just two points and only one point behind fifth-place Davidson.
NOTABLE: Metz carries a 15-game hit streak from the end of last season into Friday's season opener ... senior Brandon Chapman will start on Opening Day as catcher and has started 149 games behind the plate in his career ... GW's defense has set new program records in two of the past three seasons for fielding percentage, finishing 2017 at .982.
COLONIALS ON THE CAPE: Both Metz and Fassnacht competed over the summer in the famed Cape Cod League, the top collegiate summer league in the nation. It marked the third consecutive season that GW has had multiple players compete in the Cape league.
Metz played for the second consecutive summer with the Wareham Gateman where he appeared in 37 games while batting .272 with four doubles, one triple, seven RBI, 17 runs, 34 hits and four stolen bases.
Fassnacht teamed with Metz on the Wareham Gateman and produced six hits, one double, three RBI, two runs and two walks over nine games.
PRODUCING PROFESSIONALS: The GW baseball program continues to produce MLB Draft Picks after last season's selection of Joey Bartosic (19th Round, Colorado Rockies) and Eddie Muhl (25th Round, Pittsburgh Pirates). The duo marks the third and fourth players selected in the MLB Draft since head coach Gregg Ritchie took over the program in 2013 (Shane Kemp and Kevin Mahala).
GW has seen 38 players taken in the MLB Draft dating back to 1971 including former Major Leaguers Sam Perlozzo, John Flaherty and Mike O'Connor.
SERIES HISTORY: GW is 0-4 against Florida Atlantic. The teams last met for a three-game series in 2004 in Boca Raton which the Owls swept. The only previous meeting was during the 1984 season.
We are just days away from the season opener in Florida! Check in with Mark Osis and Matt Cosentino about where the team stands ahead of Opening Day #RaiseHigh pic.twitter.com/JUQU39sNXS
- GW Baseball (@GWBaseball1) February 14, 2018
