NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y., February 7, 2019 – The 2019 Monroe College Mustangs baseball season is finally here, and the Mustangs have their sights set on getting back to Grand Junction after a historic 2018 campaign.
 
The Mustangs open the 2019 season this weekend with a four-game series at Patrick Henry Community College in Martinsville, Va. Monroe and Patrick Henry will play a pair of doubleheaders on Saturday, Feb. 9, and Sunday, Feb. 10.

Monroe made its first-ever appearance at the Junior College World Series in Grand Junction, Colo. last season. The team earned its spot in the national championship tournament after claiming its first-ever Eastern District Championship, going a perfect 3-0 against Harford Community College, USC Sumter and ASA College. Monroe hosted the 2018 NJCAA Div. I Region XV Championship series against ASA, sweeping the Avengers in three games to earn the region title.
 
The Mustangs come into the 2019 campaign as the No. 14-ranked team in the NJCAA, as announced in the 2019 NJCAA Division I Baseball Preseason Rankings. This is the program's highest ever NJCAA ranking and the team's first appearance in the NJCAA Preseason Poll. The Mustangs also earned national recognition in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper NJCAA 2019 Div. I Preseason Poll, coming in at No. 9 in the rankings. The Mustangs earned the first national ranking in program history heading into the JUCO World Series, coming in at No. 20.
 
The Mustangs opened the JUCO World Series against perennial powerhouse San Jacinto College. Monroe fell in its first-ever JUCO World Series matchup, but bounced back two days later with a 10-4 victory over Jefferson College for the program's first win in Grand Junction. The Mustangs were unfortunately eliminated the next day by the same San Jacinto College team they fell to three days prior.
 
This year's squad returns just six players from last year's history-making team, but with a wealth of freshmen, returning redshirt athletes and sophomore transfers, the Mustangs have equipped themselves to make another run in 2019. Among the returning six is infielder Joseph Encarnacion, who earned a spot on the All-Region XV Team last season, as well as Gustavo Gonzalez, who started 36 games in 2018.
 
The Mustangs are led by Head Coach Luis Melendez, who takes a 276-224-3 career record into his 13th year at the helm of the Monroe College baseball program. Melendez is a five-time Region XV Coach of the Year and earned his first Eastern District Coach of the Year award in 2018.
 
The Mustangs open the 2019 season with a challenging road trip. They will play some of the nation's top competition with stops in Virginia, Louisiana and Texas in mid-February. A tough slate continues throughout February and early March with stops in Maryland and South Carolina before the Mustangs finally return home on Saturday, March 9, for a doubleheader against SUNY Sullivan.
 
Monroe then plays away from home for another extending period, playing in nearby Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Long Island for a few weeks, before returning to Dick Caswell Field on April 4 to kick off a five-game weekend series against Region XV rival ASA. Those five games are the front half of an eight-game home stand that also included two games with Lackawanna College on April 9 and a single game against Mercer County Community College on April 10.
 
The Mustangs then play another 12 games in a row on the road before taking on County College of Morris at home on Wednesday, May 1. Monroe then concludes the regular season with another six road games with trips to Keyser, W.V. to play Potomac State College of WVU, and McHenry, Md. to face off with Garrett College.
 
The 2019 Region XV Championship is set to begin on May 7. The Eastern District Championships will follow the following week, where the field for the JUCO World Series will be determined. The 2019 JUCO World Series in Grand Junction is scheduled to begin on May 25.
 
ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT MONROE COLLEGE
The athletic program at Monroe College encompasses a total of 27 teams competing across nine sports. There are 18 varsity and junior varsity programs, as well as club men's and women's rugby, competing on the New Rochelle campus as the Monroe Mustangs (NJCAA Division I). The Monroe Express, based out of the Bronx campus as of the fall of 2017, has seven teams competing at the NJCAA Division III level.
 
For more information about the Monroe Mustangs, please visit us at www.MonroeCollegeMustangs.com or follow us on social media: Facebook (Monroe College Athletics), Twitter (@Monroe_Mustangs) and Instagram (@monroemustangs).