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Clarkson University Athletics

CU Baseball Preview - at Liberty League Championships (5/9-11)

By: May 8, 2019
MessierMike2019act3

Men's Baseball | 5/8/2019 2:00:00 PM

For the 13th time in 17 years, the Clarkson University Baseball team will participate in the conference title, and after missing hosting rights by mere percentage points the Golden Knights will be seeking their third overall league title in Rochester.

The field consists of host University of Rochester, Clarkson, RIT, Rensselaer and Union.

Live Stats/Live Video

Key Stats for Clarkson (21-15, 15-7 Liberty League, #2 seed): Thanks to some big offensive weekends, the Golden Knights led the conference in runs scored (249) and on-base percentage (.387), but the key for Clarkson has been riding the hot bat with solid pitching throughout the year. Right now, few in the league are hotter than sophomores Tommy Bianchi and Michael Mieczkowski. In the last two series, Bianchi is 18-for-30 (.600) at the plate with 11 runs scored and eight more driven in, while Mieczkowski's last six games have seen him hit .824 (14-for-17) with 10 runs scored and seven runs batted in. Clarkson also leads the conference in fielding percentage (.968) though that number may also be bolstered by the Golden Knights' strikeout numbers, where the pitching staff leads the league with better than one whiff per inning (282 strikeouts/280.0 innings pitched). Clarkson went 6-6 against teams in the league tournament, including a 3-1 mark against host Rochester.

Key Stats for Rochester (24-14, 17-7 Liberty League, #1 seed): The Yellowjackets got hot late to claim the conference title, winning eight straight and 11 of their last 12 against league foes. Four of those wins came against Union in a sweep, and Rochester was 7-5 overall against conference tournament teams, going 1-3 against Clarkson and splitting with RIT. Garrett Renslow is the team's top starter with a 2.16 earned run average and 52 strikeouts in 41.2 innings pitched and Brendan Shamieh is a consistent reliever with a 0.83 WHIP, 1.71 earned run average and 32-to-7 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Overall, Rochester led the conference in earned run average at 3.89. Jacob Matzat (.371/.470/.443) and David Rieth (.357/.432/.519) have the highest batting averages on the team, but the most dangerous hitter may be Jack Herman, who has a team-best six home runs and a .560 slugging percentage. The Yellowjackets are still seeking their first postseason conference championship.

Key Stats for RIT (21-16, 15-7 Liberty League, #3 seed): The Tigers may be the most battle tested squad in the league tournament, with 16 of their 22 games coming against this weekend's participants. RIT split with Clarkson, Rensselaer, and Rochester and won three of four against Union. The Tigers don't possess one hitter to focus on, but possess a steady group of players in the low .300s or hovering close to that number. Luke McNamara (.333), Daniel Zeglen (.321) and Patrick Mylott (.318) are the top three averages, but Patrick Blackall has the best numbers overall, including five home runs, 29 runs scored and a league-best 37 runs batted in with a .306 average. On the mound, Stevie Branche leads the Tigers and the conference in many categories, including strikeouts (60), inning pitched (63.0), and opponents' average (.189) while placing second in the conference in earned run average (1.71) thanks to two shutouts.

Key Stats for Rensselaer (19-17, 15-9 Liberty League, #4 seed): Like the three teams ahead of them in the standings, the Engineers were still in the hunt for the league title entering the final weekend, but a split against RIT relegated Rensselaer to the play-in game, a one-game wild card spot for the fourth spot in the double elimination portion of the championship. Despite the position the Engineers are in, the team has ample pitching depth in Brendan McNerney (2.88 ERA), Ryan Yerby (3.23 ERA) and Christopher Palmiero (3.59 ERA). McNerney is a tough pitcher to hit, having allowed just 15 base knocks in 25 innings of work, but he also walked 16 hitters. Yerby has 39 strikeouts to lead the team, and both he and Palmiero have won five games. In the order, Joseph Curci (.353./.400/.489), Cole Paquin (.352/.450/.426) and Jake Defayette (.347/.430/.495) create a formidable trio to face.

Key Stats for Union (18-20, 14-10 Liberty League, #5 seed): The Dutchmen were playing for the last spot in the tournament on the final weekend, but ended up with momentum thanks to a four-game sweep of Skidmore. Union is a bit of an unknown, having not played two of the teams in the conference tournament (Clarkson and Rensselaer). Against Rochester and RIT, however, Union was just 1-7. Despite that mark, the Dutchmen are the defending tournament champions with plenty of pop in the lineup. Union led the conference in home runs (27), batting average (.307) and slugging percentage (.447) while ranking just behind Clarkson in on-base percentage (.385). Sean Cullen mirrored his team's effort with his positions on the leaderboard, hitting .410 (first) with a .464 on-base percentage (third) and .649 slugging percentage (second) to go along with a league-best 55 hits. Joe Ganim (.355/.418/.471) and Jack Koch (.345/.425/.475) have solid numbers and combine with Cullen for a total of 37 stolen bases. Elias Kuhns and Cullen also banged out six home runs each.  




 
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Players Mentioned

Michael Mieczkowski

#11 Michael Mieczkowski

IF
6' 0"
Sophomore
R/R
Tommy Bianchi

#23 Tommy Bianchi

OF
5' 10"
Sophomore
L/L

Players Mentioned

Michael Mieczkowski

#11 Michael Mieczkowski

6' 0"
Sophomore
R/R
IF
Tommy Bianchi

#23 Tommy Bianchi

5' 10"
Sophomore
L/L
OF