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CU Baseball opens Liberty League tournament against Rochester

Posted 5/12/16

For the 11th time in 14 chances, the Clarkson University Baseball team earned a spot in the Liberty League Conference Tournament. The Golden Knights will go into the double-elimination tournament as …

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CU Baseball opens Liberty League tournament against Rochester

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For the 11th time in 14 chances, the Clarkson University Baseball team earned a spot in the Liberty League Conference Tournament. The Golden Knights will go into the double-elimination tournament as the two seed and will take on third-seeded Rochester in the first game on Thursday. Host and top-seeded Union will play fourth-seeded RPI in the other opener.

Clarkson closed the regular season with a 19-16 overall record and a 14-8 Liberty League mark. After starting the season just 3-11 overall and 0-4 in conference, the Green and Gold won 16 of their final 21 games, including a stretch where they were victorious in 13 of 15 games. Clarkson closed out the season with a 3-3 record against Union and Rochester, including a doubleheader home split against the Yellow Jackets.

Clarkson was the top hitting and fielding team in the Liberty League. Chris Miller has been the top offensive threat for Clarkson all season. He led the league in batting average (.441), slugging percentage (.646), and on-base percentage (.507). Those numbers increase to .487, .744, and .557 respectively against conference opponents. Miller is second in runs batted in with 38 and Greg Jasek and Brad Pearson are right behind him with 37 and 34 runs batted in. Jasek is second in the league with 16 doubles and is also fifth in batting average (.380), sixth in slugging percentage (.550), and third in on-base percentage (.464). Just behind Jasek in on-base percentage is Anthony Padrazo who gets on base 45.9% of the time and has scored a league-leading 41 runs. Overall Clarkson has seven players hitting at least .300. Led by Miller, Jasek, and Padrazo, Pearson, Connor Martin, Will Coleman, and Connor Dietrich also have batting averages of at least .300 which has helped Clarkson amass a Liberty League high batting average of .323, which is almost .020 points higher than the second highest average. Against conference opponents, it jumps to .325.

On the pitching side, Clarkson has the fourth best ERA overall at 4.94, but that number has been shaved down to 3.75 in conference games, the third best mark. Ian Castle has the lowest ERA on the team at 1.64, a rate that is the third best in the conference, but Castle is just two innings short of qualifying for the ERA title. The team leader in innings pitched is Ted Wilson who has thrown 57.1 innings, tied for the second-most in the Liberty League. Wilson is fifth in the Liberty League with an ERA of 2.51 and tied for second with six victories. Eddie Miller is tied for seventh in the conference as hitters are batting just .242 against him, a mark that is only bested by Castle's .212 amongst Clarkson starters. The fourth starter for Clarkson is Coleman and he leads the league in issuing just two walks. Andrew Smith and Ryan Riley have been dependable options out of the bullpen, making 11 and nine appearances each and both getting one save.

Clarkson's eleven appearances in the conference tournament are tied with Rochester for the second most all-time. RPI has one more appearance for a record 12. Union has just four appearances. Rochester and Clarkson have the longest active streaks, as each have made the tournament three years running. RPI has taken part in the last two, while Union last made the playoffs in 2014, when the Dutchmen also finished as the top overall seed. RPI has the best tournament record, having gone 22-12 in the playoffs all-time, including winning titles in 2013 and 2015. Overall, the Engineers have won five conference championships. Clarkson's all-time record is even at 15-15. The Golden Knights have won two titles, in 2009 and 2011. Rochester has struggled in the postseason, going just 5-20 all-time and has not captured a title. Union has a 7-5 all-time mark and won its only title in 2014.

Rochester was 22-17 overall this season and 15-9 in the Liberty League. The Yellow Jackets won 10 of their last 13 conference games. Against conference opponents, Rochester trails just Clarkson in team batting average with the Yellow Jackets hitting .301 as a team and .304 overall. Shortstop Steve Eychner had the second highest batting average in the conference, hitting .421. Aiden Finch knocked in 31 runs, which tied for the sixth most in the league. Evan Janifer, John Ghyzel, and Dan Warren are the top three pitchers for Rochester, with ERA's of 1.63, 2.26, and 2.79 respectively, all of which put them in the top ten of the Liberty League.

Rochester and Clarkson will be familiar opponents as the two teams met in a four game series just last weekend in Potsdam. The two teams split, winning two games apiece. Clarkson will take heart though that the two games Clarkson won were of the nine-inning variety, which is the format for the conference tournament. Clarkson has an all-time record of 5-2 against Rochester in the tournament. Clarkson eliminated the Yellow Jackets in 2003 and 2009. Most recently, the two teams have met in both the 2014 and 2015 editions of the tournaments, with Rochester winning in 2014 and Clarkson taking the 2015 matchup.

Union came into the final weekend of the regular season in third place, but a dominating four game sweep of Vassar allowed the Dutchmen to win the conference going away. Union finished 23-12 overall and 15-7 in the Liberty League. Jake Fishman has been the best pitcher in the conference. Fishman has an ERA of 0.37, a mark that leads the league by more than a run. He has a league-high 63 strikeouts and is tied for second with six wins.

Clarkson and Union split a two game series with the other two games canceled due to weather. Union took the opener 7-4 with Fishman on the mound before Clarkson's offense pounded out 22 hits in a 17-5 rout. Clarkson has met Union in the playoffs just twice, with both meetings coming in 2004. The Golden Knights took both of those games. Clarkson has won four of six games against the Dutchmen in the last two years.

Much like Clarkson, RPI had a slow start to the season. After winning their first game of the season, the Engineers dropped their next 13. RPI has fought back to finish 14-25 overall and 13-11 in the Liberty League. It took two wins over St. Lawrence on the final day of the regular season for RPI to clinch a playoff berth. RPI's pitching has been strong in conference play, as its team ERA of 3.61 trails only Union against conference opponents. Brendan McNerney is second in the conference in ERA in conference games with a mark of 1.71. Opposing batters are hitting just .195 against him and he has struck out 35 batters.

RPI and Clarkson met once this year although it did not count as a league game. Clarkson took a 13-12 10-inning win to close out its Florida trip. RPI jumped out to an 8-2 after two innings, but Clarkson clawed back to tie it at nine in the sixth inning. The two teams were tied at 12 after nine innings, but a single by Coleman scored Miller in the top of the 10th for the eventual winning run. RPI and Clarkson have an extensive playoff history with the two splitting ten prior playoff meetings. They have met in the championship round four times, with RPI winning in 2003 and 2004 and while 2009 and 2011 went to Clarkson.

Clarkson and Rochester will get the tournament started on Thursday with first pitch at noon.