POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (April 24, 2014) – The Vassar College baseball team will take on Union College this weekend for a pair of Liberty League doubleheaders with big playoff implications. Vassar will head to Schenectady, NY Saturday at 1 p.m. before hosting the Dutchmen Sunday at noon on Prentiss Field. The Brewers are coming off an 8-2 loss to Manhattanville College Wednesday afternoon, but also knocked of St. Lawrence University twice Tuesday for a pair of important Liberty League wins.

Vassar College (12-10, 7-5 Liberty)
(Vassar College Baseball Home Page) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)

Game Details
Opponent: at Union College (16-6-1, 9-3-1 Liberty)
Links: (Union Baseball Home Page) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)
Site: Schenectady, NY
Facility: Diamond C at Central Park (500)
Date: April 26, 2014
Time: 1 p.m.
Game Coverage: (Live Stats)

Site: Poughkeepsie, NY
Facility:  Prentiss Field (500)
Date: April 27, 2014
Time: 12 p.m.
Game Coverage: (Live Stats) (Live Video)
 

Vassar College vs. Union
Category	Vassar	Union
Batting Avg.	.283	.300
SLG%	.380	.374
OB%	.369	.393
FLD%	.936	.949
SB-SBA	11-17	39-51
ERA	4.96	4.25
AVG. AGAINST	.268	.257
BB	90	88
K	121	131

What To Look For
The Brewers come into the weekend sitting in the fourth spot in the Liberty League standings. With the top four making the postseason tournament, it's will be important for Vassar College to pick up some wins, especially against a very solid Union College team. Looking at the table, UC leads the conference with a .731 win percentage, followed by RIT and its .667 winning mark. The University of Rochester is in third with a .650 winning percentage, and Vassar is fourth at .583. Clarkson University, St. Lawrence and RPI all are at .500 or better, so this weekend's games could make or break several squads.

A Look At The Brewers
The Brewers come into the big weekend with the sixth-best offense in the Liberty League in terms of batting average, but the Brewers have the third-best slugging percentage in the conference. The pitching for Vassar, though second highest in the conference in team ERA, has been getting quality starts for the most part lately.

Senior Brett Zaziski (Randolph, NJ/Randolph) still leads the squad in hitting with a .411 batting average, slugging at a team-best .712 clip. Sophomore Nick Johnson (San Francisco, CA/St. Ignatius) is batting .359 on the year with 14 doubles, and Brooks English (Milton, MA/Milton Academy) and Kyle Casey (San Diego, CA/Vista) are both hitting around .325 on the year. Junior shortstop Jason Garfinkel (Encino, CA/Harvard-Westlake) has also brought his average up to .314, posting seven doubles, a triple and homer on the season.

Vassar College will look to its weekend foursome for some solid pitching performances against Union. Senior Joe Lovizio (Lindenhurst, NY/Lindenhurst) has gotten some tough luck this year, but will most likely throw on Saturday, as will sophomore Jonathan Hong (Orinda, CA/Miramonte). Lovizio is 1-4 on the year with a 5.12 ERA, posting 22 strikeouts in 31.2 innings of work. Hong has had two straight outings with no earned runs, including his five inning, four-strikeout performance at Rochester.

Freshmen Trent Berg (Milton, MA/Boston College) is fourth in the league in ERA with a 1.84 average, while fellow freshman Adam Erkis (Villanova, PA/Radnor) sports a 2.35 ERA and a spotless 5-0 record this season. Sophomore Connor Cucalon (San Francisco, CA/St. Ignatius) has been superb as well, as he has now allowed a run in eight appearances, striking out eight in 9.1 innings.

A Look At The Dutchmen
Union is near the top of most offensive categories in the Liberty League, boasting the second-best offense with a .300 team batting average. The Dutchmen are the best team in the conference at not striking out, posting just 95 whiffs in 22 games, so making plays in the field will be critical to the success of VC.

Offensively, Sam Caruso leads the team in hitting with a .408 batting average, pacing the team with 29 hits and six doubles. Caruso also has been successful on 12-of-13 stolen base attempts. Freshman Jake Fishman has been a great add for the Dutch, as he is batting .349 with 13 RBI, while Kent Curran is sporting a .338 average along with five doubles. Joe Bradlee leads the team with 15 RBI and is hitting .328 on the season.

The pitching staff for Union has been very solid, especially at the top of the rotation. Senior Dane O'Neil has a league-leading 1.44 ERA over four starts, striking out 21 hitters over 25 innings, while Fishman has a 1.91 ERA with a 4-0 record. Greg Geisel has a 2.65 earned run average in 17 innings of work, while Chris Pignatello has a team-high 10 appearances along with four saves this season.

Against Union All-Time
The Brewers have played Union College more than any other opponent in the team's history, battling the Dutchmen 52 previous times. UC holds a 39-13 all-time series lead over the Brewers, with the Dutch winning four of the last five over Vassar. VC's longest win streak came in 2010-11, when the Brewers won three straight and four of six over their rivals to the north.

Late Inning Lull
The Brewers have struggled late in games to score runs, as evidenced by the 23-9 run deficit against teams from the seventh to the ninth innings.

Three Or More
Vassar are 11-4 this season when scoring three of more runs, but are 1-6 when posting two or fewer scores in a game.

Get Through Six
On the year, the Brewers have been money when leading after six innings. In contests when Vassar has held a lead after the sixth, VC is 11-0.

Rockin' Robbins
Senior righty Dave Robbins (Rumson, NJ/Rumson-Fair Haven) is among the team leaders in batting average against, as he has allowed just seven hits all season in 11 innings on the hill. In his last five appearances, he has surrendered just four hits.

Make Haste
The Brewer contests have really picked up the pace over the last seven games, with five contests being played in less than two hours. Before that, online two of the previous 15 games had been played under two hours.

Hey Casey
Vassar infielder Kyle Casey has reached base safely in his last 19 games, and currently holds the team's longest hit streak at four games.

Roll Me
The Brewers have been solid at getting ground ball double plays this season, getting 18 GBDP's this season. Senior Joe Lovizio has benefited the most, throwing four twin killings this season.

Up Next
Vassar College will finish its regular season next weekend against Bard College with a Saturday and Sunday doubleheader, with Sunday being Senior Day for the four Brewer seniors.