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Men's Baseball May 8, 2017

CU Baseball Preview - Liberty League Championship (5/11-5/13)

For the fourth straight season, the Clarkson University Baseball team qualified for the Liberty League playoffs. The Golden Knights are the third seed and will open the postseason against second seeded Union on Thursday morning.

Liberty League Baseball Tournament Central
 
Clarkson is 16-16 overall this season and is 12-8 in the Liberty League. Clarkson has not played since April 29th when the Green and Gold split a doubleheader with Union. Clarkson is fourth in the conference in batting average (.287), and ERA (4.82), but moves up to third in both categories when just taking into account conference games.
 
Dom Pirro leads Clarkson with a .376 batting average and a .521 slugging percentage. He is fifth in the conference in batting average and seventh in slugging. He is also tied for sixth in runs scored with 29, seventh in hits with 44, and tied for ninth in RBI's with 22. Just behind Pirro is Joe Fraser who is hitting .365 which is second on Clarkson and seventh in the conference. Cam Bando (.321), Ben Knauf (.319), and Chris Miller (.316) are all hitting over .300 as well for Clarkson. Miller is also second in the conference as he has struck out just six times in 114 at-bats.
 
On the mound, Ted Wilson has a perfect 6-0 record on the season and leads Clarkson with a 2.94 ERA. Wilson is ninth in the conference in ERA, tied for second in wins, and is fourth with 52.0 innings pitched. Wilson needs one more win to become just the sixth Clarkson pitcher to win at least seven games in a single season as well as throwing six more innings to move into the top ten in single season total at Clarkson. Wilson is tied with Andrew Smith for the team lead with 26 strikeouts. Mike Bubniak is second on Clarkson with four victories. Nate Burns has four saves on the season, tying the Clarkson single season record.
 
Union has used a formidable offense to win 20 of its 33 games this season and rack up a 14-7 conference record. The Dutchmen lead the Liberty League with a .319 batting average and have scored 6.67 runs per game. Those numbers increase to .330 and 6.76 runs against conference opponents. The pitching has not let down the Dutchmen either as Union has a team ERA of 4.51, third in the Liberty League, and opposing teams bat .269 against them.
 
Jake Vesling and Kent Curran are first and second, respectively, in the Liberty League with batting averages of .416 and .411, and Curran is first in the league in slugging percentage at .723. Curran also leads the league with 16 doubles and five triples and has three of Union's conference-high 14 home runs. Vesling has also thrown 50 innings on the mound and batters have hit just .242 off him. Ryan Kuchar is eighth in the Liberty League with an ERA of 2.80.
 
Clarkson and Union met twice this year in a doubleheader in Jack Phillips Stadium. The Golden Knights came back from 7-1 down in the first game and took a 9-8 walk-off win. The Dutchmen took the second game by the score of 8-7 after holding off a late Clarkson rally. The two teams met in the 2016 edition of the Liberty League playoffs and Union earned a 3-1 win en route to a tournament championship.
 
RIT earned the number one overall seed and has an impressive 30-7 overall record. The Tigers went 21-1 in the Liberty League and have won their last nine games heading into the postseason. RIT has been led by its pitching as its team ERA of 3.16 is more than a full run better than that of second place RPI. RIT is also second in the league in batting average at .308.
 
Will Gorman leads the league in home runs with eight. He is also second in slugging percentage (.642) while Daniel Zeglen is fifth (.534). Brett Kajganich is tied for the league lead with 50 hits. Brett Bouchard (1.32) and Brian Reed (1.89) are first and second in the conference in ERA. Stevie Branche (.185), Zeglen (.207), Jameson Moran (.209), Bouchard (.210), and Reed (.223) are the top five in the Liberty League in opposing batting average.
 
Vassar finished 19-17 on the season and 11-9 in the Liberty League. The Brewers won two out of three games against St. Lawrence in the final weekend series to earn the fourth and final seed in the playoffs. Evan Trausch leads the team with a .378 batting average, which is fourth in the conference. Matt Martino (.516) and Trausch (.510) are eighth and tenth in the league in slugging percentage. Adam Erkis leads the Brewers with 50.2 innings pitched and 36 strikeouts.
 
Clarkson and Union will open the tournament with the first game at 11:00 am on Thursday morning followed by RIT against Vassar.
 
 
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Players Mentioned

Mike Bubniak

#18 Mike Bubniak

LHP
5' 11"
Sophomore
L/L
Ben Knauf

#24 Ben Knauf

OF
6' 4"
Junior
R/R
Chris Miller

#11 Chris Miller

OF
6' 0"
Senior
L/L
Dom Pirro

#22 Dom Pirro

RHP/OF
6' 1"
Senior
R/R
Andrew Smith

#2 Andrew Smith

RHP
6' 2"
Junior
R/R
Ted Wilson

#31 Ted Wilson

LHP
6' 2"
Senior
L/L
Nate Burns

#1 Nate Burns

OF/P
6' 0"
Freshman
R/R
Joe Fraser

#30 Joe Fraser

IF
6' 0"
Freshman
L/L
Cam Bando

#21 Cam Bando

C
6' 0"
Freshman
R/R

Players Mentioned

Mike Bubniak

#18 Mike Bubniak

5' 11"
Sophomore
L/L
LHP
Ben Knauf

#24 Ben Knauf

6' 4"
Junior
R/R
OF
Chris Miller

#11 Chris Miller

6' 0"
Senior
L/L
OF
Dom Pirro

#22 Dom Pirro

6' 1"
Senior
R/R
RHP/OF
Andrew Smith

#2 Andrew Smith

6' 2"
Junior
R/R
RHP
Ted Wilson

#31 Ted Wilson

6' 2"
Senior
L/L
LHP
Nate Burns

#1 Nate Burns

6' 0"
Freshman
R/R
OF/P
Joe Fraser

#30 Joe Fraser

6' 0"
Freshman
L/L
IF
Cam Bando

#21 Cam Bando

6' 0"
Freshman
R/R
C