After a quick trip south to start the season, the Clarkson University Baseball team is back in New York for the start of the Liberty League schedule. The Golden Knights will begin their conference slate on the road in a four game set at the Rochester Yellowjackets.

Clarkson left its annual Florida spring trip with a 3-5 record. However, the Green and Gold did beat Endicott and Wisconsin-Oshkosh, both of whom have winning record, and closed out the trip with a 7-2 win over Hamilton College. Offensively, Dom Pirro and Cam Bando have been the standouts as the pair are hitting .382 and .379 respectively. Pirro has two of Clarkson's three home runs with Justin Judson launching the other roundtripper. Chris Miller and Will Coleman each have seven hits so far, with Miller leading the team with nine runs scored. Brad Pearson and Joe Fraser each have six hits with Pearson tied for second on the team as he has knocked in four runs. Pirro also has four RBI's while Bando leads the team with six.

On the mound, Clarkson has struggled, as the Golden Knights have a team earned run average of 6.82. Seemingly immune from those struggles though, are Ted Wilson, Ryan Riley, and Pirro. Wilson and Riley both have a 1-0 record in three appearances and one start. Wilson has a 1.80 ERA in a team-high ten innings. Riley picked up a save in the first game of the season and made his first career start in the 7-2 win over Rochester. Riley has struck out 11 of the 29 batters he has faced and has allowed just two runs. Pirro has yet to allow a run in 2.2 innings pitched and has struck out four of the eight batters he has matched up against.

Rochester, like Clarkson, has reached the past three Liberty League playoffs, but the Yellowjackets have been unable to get over the postseason hump. So far this season, Rochester has a 2-4 record and is on a two-game losing streak. The games with Clarkson will be the first Liberty League games for Rochester this season after the season opening series with Vassar was rained out. Jack Herman and Jake Hertz pace Rochester at the plate as the pair are hitting .364 and .294 respectively. Jack Denzer and John Ghyzel lead the team on the mound as Denzer has pitched 11.2 innings and Ghyzel has thrown nine. However, Denzer has an ERA of 6.17 while Ghyzel is not much better as he has an average of 6.00.

Clarkson is 2-1 against Rochester in the past three postseasons and 7-4 overall in that span. The Golden Knights fell to the Yellowjackets 5-2 in the 2014 Liberty League playoffs before winning 17-1 and 9-4 in the 2015 and 2016 editions.

The two teams will meet in a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 1:00 pm followed by two more games on Sunday with the first pitch scheduled for 12:00 noon.