CU Baseball Preview - at University of Rochester (4/6-7)

By: April 5, 2019

Men's Baseball | 4/5/2019 10:29:00 AM

It's hard to imagine that the Clarkson University Baseball team can match last weekend's offensive output, but the Golden Knights will try to do just that when they travel to take on Rochester on Saturday and Sunday.

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The Series: Over the last four seasons (the two teams did not meet in 2018), Clarkson owns a 9-5 record against Rochester. The two teams split the regular-season four-game set in both 2016 and 2017 while Clarkson was 3-1 in 2015. The Knights also picked up wins in the conference tournament against Rochester in 2015 (17-1) and 2016 (9-4).

Key Stats for Clarkson (8-6, 4-0 Liberty League): Senior Brad Pearson enjoyed what would have been a solid month for many players last weekend against Vassar, scoring 12 times and driving in eight more runs while producing a .600/.700/1.267 line. For the year, Pearson is batting .413/.481/.696, all figures that rank among the conference leaders. In the shadows of Pearson's big weekend was classmate Vincent Granuzzo, who "quietly" put up a .500/.579/.563 line last weekend by going 8-for-16 with three walks. Granuzzo currently ranks fourth in the conference with a .536 on-base percentage and is hitting .395. Sophomore Michael Tito is fifth in the league in on-base percentage and is second in the conference in walks (12), posting a .383/.508/.489 line overall. In addition to Clarkson's hitting at the top of the lineup, the Knights lead the conference in fielding percentage at .973 with just 13 errors in close to 500 chances. The solid fielding allows for truer earned run averages than those pitchers who may be helped by mounting unearned runs. Ryan Riley leads the team's starters with a 3.43 earned run average in 21 innings, which includes 25 strikeouts. Mike Bubniak has performed well in relief and in starts, posting a 3.80 earned run average and 20 whiffs in 21.1 innings.

Key Stats for Rochester (11-9, 5-3 Liberty League): The Yellowjackets played three midweek games, including a pair of make-up league contests against RIT which dropped their conference mark down to 5-3. Jacob Matzat (.426/.471/.511) leads the team in hitting and Steve Pickering (.358/.411/.448) has a slightly higher batting average, but it is Aiden Finch who has done the most damage in the middle of the Rochester lineup. The senior bolstered his hitting line considerably with a 5-for-5 performance against Ithaca on Wednesday, but his slash line of .354/.450/.631 looks all the more impressive when his counting numbers are included, as he leads the conference with 25 runs batted in and is tied for second with 18 runs scored thanks to 11 extra-base hits. Jack Denzer (3.69 ERA), Jon Turk (4.00 ERA), and Kevin Ho (5.61 ERA) have combined to make 14 of the team's 20 starts, but Garrett Renslow and Brendan Shamieh have the best overall numbers, doing much of their damage in relief. Renslow has 24 strikeouts against just three walks in 16.2 innings and Shamieh has 19 whiffs in 17.2 innings, which includes just one start in nine appearances.

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Players Mentioned

#18 Mike Bubniak: LHP; 5' 11"; Senior; L/L

#29 Vincent Granuzzo: LHP/IF; 6' 1"; Senior; R/L

#25 Brad Pearson: C; 5' 11"; Senior; L/R

#34 Ryan Riley: RHP; 6' 1"; Senior; R/R

#2 Michael Tito: IF; 5' 7"; Sophomore; R/R

Players Mentioned

#18 Mike Bubniak
: 5' 11"; Senior; L/L
: LHP

#29 Vincent Granuzzo
: 6' 1"; Senior; R/L
: LHP/IF

#25 Brad Pearson
: 5' 11"; Senior; L/R
: C

#34 Ryan Riley
: 6' 1"; Senior; R/R
: RHP

#2 Michael Tito
: 5' 7"; Sophomore; R/R
: IF