POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (April 21, 2014) – The Vassar College baseball team will look to rebound from losing its last three this weekend at the University of Rochester, as it will host St. Lawrence University at 11 a.m. Tuesday (note time change) in a doubleheader. VC will follow that by taking on Manhattanville College Wednesday at 4 p.m. in the final non-conference game of the season for the Brewers.

Vassar College (10-9, 5-5 Liberty)
(Vassar College Baseball Home Page) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)

Game Details
Opponent: vs. St. Lawrence University (13-10, 9-6 Liberty)
Links: (St. Lawrence Baseball Home Page) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)
Site: Poughkeepsie, NY
Facility:  Prentiss Field (500)
Date: April 22, 2014
Time: 11 a.m.
Game Coverage: (Live Stats) (Live Video)
 

Vassar College vs. St. Lawrence
Category	Vassar	SLU
Batting Avg.	.289	.288
SLG%	.385	.361
OB%	.376	.371
FLD%	.933	.964
SB-SBA	7-10	33-37
ERA	5.18	3.99
AVG. AGAINST	.273	.271
BB	78	71
K	104	110

Game Details
Opponent: vs. Manhattanville College (13-10, 9-6 Liberty)
Links: (Manhattanville Baseball Home Page) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)
Site: Poughkeepsie, NY
Facility:  Prentiss Field (500)
Date: April 23, 2014
Time: 4 p.m.
Game Coverage: (Live Stats) (Live Video)
 

Vassar College vs. Manhattanville
Category	Vassar	M'Ville
Batting Avg.	.289	.328
SLG%	.385	.452
OB%	.376	.405
FLD%	.933	.953
SB-SBA	7-10	71-89
ERA	5.18	6.49
AVG. AGAINST	.273	.302
BB	78	86
K	104	138

What To Watch For
The Brewer baseball team sits in seventh place in the Liberty League with 10 conference games to play in the season. Tuesday's doubleheader with the Saints is extremely important, as SLU currently holds the fourth spot in the standings at 9-6. Vassar College still has four-game weekends with the Liberty League leader in Union College (9-3-1) and the team in the bottom spot in the conference in Bard College (0-12-1). Right now, with all the cancellations in the league, winning percentage will be the deciding factor. VC is fortunate that it has the second-fewest losses in the conference with five, so if the Brewers can win series down the stretch they could make up ground on the teams ahead of them who have to all play each other.

A Look At The Brewers
This past weekend was not how the Brewers and head coach Jon Martin would have liked things to have gone, but nonetheless, Vassar College did pick up at least one valuable win on the weekend. Freshman Adam Erkis (Villanova, PA/Radnor) was named as a Liberty League Honor Roll recipient after tossing a complete-game shutout in a 2-0 win over Rochester Friday, improving his record to a perfect 4-0 on the season.

The Brewer bats of late have not been as potent as earlier in the season, as Vassar is hitting .246 over its last seven games. During the stretch, Vassar College has been led by junior shortstop Jason Garfinkel (Encino, CA/Harvard-Westlake) and his eight hits. Sophomore outfield Nick Johnson (San Francisco, CA/St. Ignatius) is 5-for-23 (.217) over the stretch, but he is still hitting .356 on the season. Sophomore Brooks English (Milton, MA/Milton Academy) has five multi-RBI games this season, and Kyle Casey (San Diego, CA/Vista) has reached base safely in his past 16 games.

Vassar's arms have improved lately, posting a 4.18 ERA in its last nine Liberty League games, but the defense has struggled at times. Over the last nine conference games, the Brewers have committed 25 errors, nearly three per game. Also, of the 56 runs allowed over the same stretch, 23 have been unearned. During that same stretch in conference, Erkis has allowed one earned run over his last 19.1 innings of work, while fellow freshman Trent Berg (Milton, MA/Milton Academy) has a 1.42 ERA. On the year, Erkis has won all four of his starts, while the team has posted a 3-1 record in Berg's starts.

A Look At The Saints
St. Lawrence University comes down from North Country for a huge doubleheader this weekend, having split four games with Rochester Institute of Technology this pasty weekend. SLU lost the first leg of both of those doubleheaders, before capturing the nightcap in each. The Saints have won seven of their last 10 games in conference, and after Tuesday will only have four games left in the conference slate, hosting RPI May 3 and 4.

St. Lawrence is led offensively by Bryan Palermo, who is hitting .389 with five doubles, being successful in all 10 stolen base attempts. Chris Fernandez is hitting .325 with a team-best two triples, while Devin Robson is batting .317 with seven doubles. Zane Fish is the only over Saint hitting over .300 this season, as SLU comes into the contest as the conference's fourth-best batting average.

SLU can pitch it and also pick it in the field, as the Saints are first in fielding percentage in the Liberty League with a .964 clip. This year, St. Lawrence has committed just 30 errors in 23 games, and the pitching staff has four pitchers with a sub-4.00 ERA. Leading the way is Joe Riley and his 4-2 record, having posted a 1.93 ERA this season with 41 strikeouts and a batting average against of .172. Dan Hedden is 1-2 but sports a 2.86 earned run average, and Kevin Prindle is 3-1 with a 3.28 ERA. Mike Dell'ollo leads the team in appearances with seven and saves with two.

Against St. Lawrence University
St. Lawrence owns a 26-8 record over the Brewers in the series, though the Brewers have taken three of the last four against the Saints. Vassar College hasn't played in Canton, NY since the 2011 season, as the last eight regular season games have been played in Poughkeepsie. Last year in the Liberty League Tournament, VC knocked off SLU 8-6.

A Look At The Valiants
Manhattanville has won four straight games coming into Wednesday's affair, putting together nine wins in its last 10 games. The Valiants have been strong road competitors this year, going 12-5 away from Manhattanville Field, including road and neutral site games. Manhattanville is fourth in the Freedom Conference of the Middle Atlantic Conferences, but comfortably inside a tournament spot right now.

MC is lead at the plate by Chris Conklin, who is batting a healthy .459 with 34 hits in 74 at-bats this season. Teammate Kurt Hommen is hitting .441 in limited action this season, and Jordanis Nunez has plated all but one game, posting a .383 batting average with seven doubles and two homers. Joe Anselmi has a team-best 13 doubles and is the reigning MAC Player of the Week, and Robbie Lynch leads the team with four long balls.

The pitching staff for Manhattanville has a bunch of hurlers that have seen lots of innings. Nine pitchers in all have tossed more than 10 innings. Joe Palmeri has a 1.59 earned run average in nine appearances with four saves, while Joe Pareres has tossed 27 innings, chalking up a 4.00 ERA and a 2-2 record. As a team, the Valiants have an earned run average of 6.49.

Against Manhattanville All-Time
The Brewers and Valiants have had a healthy series with each other since first playing each other back in 1993. Since then, MC has a 12-9 record against Vassar, but the Brewers have captured wins in four of the last six games with Manhattanville. Last season in Purchase, NY, VC knocked off M'Ville 17-11 on May 1, 2013.

Lone Wolf
This season, junior Jason Garfinkel is the only player to start every game at the same position this year, manning shortstop for all 19 games this year.

Shutdown Starter
Freshman Adam Erkis has posted a 0.42 ERA in the Liberty League this year, going 3-0 while allowing one earned run in 21.1 innings of work for the Brewers.

Put 'Em Anywhere
This season, junior Kyle Casey has played a total of four positions in the field, and his defense has been solid at every spot. Casey has not made an error this season in 85 chances, and has just three errors in his career.

Streaky
This season, the Brewers have mirrored win and loss streaks on three occasions. Only once when the Brewers won two games in a row followed by a loss was that not the case.

Fast Pace
This past weekend, the Brewers played two games in under an hour and 40 minutes. Previous to this weekend, Vassar hadn't played a game faster than the hour, 51-minute affair against Clarkson University April 6.

Drive Me In
The Brewers posted six or more RBI six times over eight games during a stretch from April 2 through April 12. Since then, Vassar has driven in just 12 runs over a five-game span.

No Pressure
This season, the Brewers are batting .630 (.29-46) clip with runners at third base and less than two out.

Up Next
Vassar will head to Union College Saturday afternoon for a Liberty League doubleheader at 1 p.m., followed by a baseball twinbill Sunday at noon on Prentiss Field with the Dutchmen.