POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (March 10, 2015) – The Vassar College baseball team will finally get its 2015 season underway this upcoming week, traveling to the heart of the Sunshine State to take part in the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational. VC will open its season on Saturday against Hope College (MI), taking on Southern Vermont College Sunday afternoon, and then Clarkson University Wednesday and Thursday in Liberty League action.

Game Details
Opponent: vs. Hope College (0-0, 0-0 MIAA)
Links:  (Hope Baseball Homepage) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)
Site: Auburndale, FL
Facility: Lake Myrtle Field No. 4
Date: March 14, 2015
Time: 11:00 a.m.
Twitter Coverage: (@VassarAthletics)
Live Coverage: (Live Stats)
 
Opponent: vs. Southern Vermont College (1-1, 0-0 NECC)
Links:  (Southern Vermont Baseball Homepage) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)
Site: Winter Haven, FL
Facility: Chain of Lakes Park No. 2
Date: March 15, 2015
Time: 3:30 p.m.
Twitter Coverage: (@VassarAthletics)
Live Coverage: (Live Stats)
 
Opponent: vs. Clarkson University (0-0, 0-0 Liberty League)
Links:  (Clarkson Baseball Homepage) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)
Site: Auburndale, FL
Facility: Myrtle Park Main Field
Date: March 18, 2015
Time: 1:30 & 3:30 p.m.
Twitter Coverage: (@VassarAthletics)
Live Coverage: (Live Stats)
 
Opponent: vs. Clarkson University (0-0, 0-0 Liberty League)
Links:  (Clarkson Baseball Homepage) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)
Site: Winter Haven, FL
Facility: Chain of Lakes Stadium
Date: March 19, 2015
Time: 9:30 am & 12:00 p.m.
Twitter Coverage: (@VassarAthletics)
Live Coverage: (Live Stats)
 
What To Look For
The Brewers open their season in Florida after enduring three postponed contests thus far, as games with Purchase College, New Paltz and Plymouth State University have been shelved. Last year, Vassar College jumped out of the gates quickly with three victories over Waynesburg University, Franklin & Marshall University and Medaille College. Late in the trip, the Brewers stumbled, falling to Amherst College, Grinnell College and Utica College. It will be important for the Brewers not to repeat that trend, as Vassar College ends this year's trip with four contests against conference rival Clarkson University in Liberty League play. If the Brewers can come away with some solid results against CU, it'll be a nice springboard for the squad into the rest of the year.
 
A Look At The Dutchmen
The Dutchmen of Hope College went 22-21 last year in 2014, posting a 17-11 record within the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association. Last campaign, the Dutchmen played nine games while in Florida, going 3-6 over the seven-day excursion. Hope College finished third in the MIAA last season, a game behind rival Calvin College for second place as Adrian College. Hope went 1-2 in the MIAA Tournament, falling to Calvin twice on back-to-back days. HC batted .284 last year, while scoring 209 runs during the campaign.
 
The Dutchmen return First Team All-MIAA performer in junior Brady VanderWeele, who batted .323 with seven doubles last year for the Dutchmen. VanderWeele walked a team-high 21 times, getting on base at a squad-leading 43.7 percent of the time. He was also very strong in the field, making just five errors in 193 chances at shortstop. All-MIAA players Eric Vachon and Tim Bodine have since graduated, but senior Devin Schaefers is back to patrol the outfield after posting a .339 batting clip to go with 12 stolen bases and nine doubles. First baseman Ben Pearson is also back for his senior campaign, after hitting .270 with 18 RBI last year.
 
On the hill, Hope will rely on senior Curry Thomas, who went 5-5 with a team-high 66.2 innings of work in 2014. Juniors Austin Goodyke and Jake Chipka each won four games as starters last year, and sophomore Ty Van Wieren earned five starts and went 4-2, tossing one complete game. Lefty Eric Plaehn tied for the team-lead with 10 appearances, saving two contests.
 
Against Hope All-Time
Vassar College will take on the Dutchmen for the first time ever Saturday. In fact, Hope will be the first MIAA school that the Brewers have taken in program history.
 
A Look At The Mountaineers
Southern Vermont was picked to finish third in the New England Collegiate Conference, coming off a 15-19 year in 2014. Last season, the Mountaineers batted .283 as a team, which ranked fifth in the NECC. SVC did rank high in the conference standings in stolen bases, as the Mountaineers swiped 89 bags, including posting 38 thefts within conference action. The gap power for Southern Vermont was also a strength, as the team was second in the conference in two-baggers, racking up 57 doubles on the season. SVC is 1-1 on the year already,
 
Offensively, Southern Vermont returns two First Team All-NECC performers to the fold this season, as senior first baseman Cody LaBadia and junior RJ Pingitore are back this season. LaBadia batted .438 last season, connecting on a team-high 49 hits while chalking up nine doubles and a team-best 31 RBI. Pingitore was a dual-threat, as he batted .371 with nine doubles and 24 runs, also earning some time on the hill. Junior Richard Rios was named as a Second Team All-NECC player in 2014 after batting .267 with a team-leading 12 doubles and 17 stolen bases, and Honorable Mention All-NECC shortstop Chris Nicastro is back for his senior season after batting .283 as a junior, driving in 15 runs and scoring 26 runs.
 
Southern Vermont only threw nine pitchers in 2014, but boasts four freshman hurlers on the roster. The returning pitchers are led by now-sophomore Dylan Angelo, who went 4-2 with a team-leading 3.05 earned run average over 56 innings of work. Freshman Nick Hartman earned the only win of the young season so far for the Mountaineers, while sophomore Joshua Hay also earned a start for the Mountaineers. Defensively, SVC has committed four errors, and is posting a .931 fielding percentage.
 
Against Southern Vermont All-Time
Vassar College will take on the Mountaineers for the first time this upcoming week. The contest will also mark the first game ever for the Brewers against a team currently residing in the New England Collegiate Conference.
 
A Look At The Golden Knights
Clarkson University returns to the diamond a season after making the Liberty League Tournament as the No. 3 seed, while head coach Jim Kane and his staff earned conference Coaching Staff of the Year honors. The Golden Knights were forced to play all of their games away from Jack Phillips Stadium at Snell Field last year, but still managed to post a 19-13 record and a 14-7 ledger within the Liberty League.
 
Clarkson returns two 2014 Liberty League First-Team all-stars in senior John Coleman and junior Greg Jasek. Coleman, a senior shortstop, was a unanimous selection to the first team and has been an all-star in all three of his collegiate seasons.   Coleman was second on the team in batting average (.292) and led the team in runs (19), runs batted in (16), and stolen bases (10), all while committing only four errors at shortstop. Jasek was strong both in the field and on the mound for the Golden Knights. He led the team in batting average (.310) and doubles (10) as well as finishing second in total bases (46). On the mound, he finished with a 5-3 record and a 2.68 ERA.
 
Along with Coleman, the seniors on the team are Nolan Driscoll, Matt Jenack and Tim Beninati. Beninati returns for his third year behind the plate and was named a Liberty League Honorable Mention in 2013. He has been outstanding defensively, throwing out 36 would-be base stealers in 107 attempts for a 33.6% clip. Jenack will hope to build on his strong performance in the 2014 conference tournament, where he reached base in six of his ten plate appearances. Driscoll was the team's regular first baseman, starting 24 of the 25 games he played in and was fifth on the team in hits with 19. Jasek is the only returning player to have made multiple starts on the bump last season. Junior Ian Castle, Driscoll, and junior Anthony Padrazo all have a chance to join him in the rotation this season after making one start apiece last year.
 
Against Clarkson All-Time
The Brewers have played Clarkson 44 times in program history, going 11-33 against the Golden Knights since 1998. The two teams have split the last six games, while Vassar won the last meeting between the squads, earning a 4-2 win at the Liberty League Championships last spring.
 
Dynamic Duo
Sophomore hurlers Trent Burg (Milton, MA/Boston College) and Adam Erkis (Villanova, PA/Radnor) combined to win 15 games last year, tops of any pairing in the Liberty League. Burg's eight wins also set a school record.
 
Big Boppers
The Brewers return seven full-time starters to the lineup this season, including five who earned All-Liberty League accolades.
 
Giving Himself Up
With five more sacrifice bunts, senior Kyle Casey (San Diego, CA/Vista) will tie Marc Ramos for the all-time record in the category with 17. As of now, Casey is tied for the fifth-most in program history with 12.
 
Tough To Hit
The top five batting average against seasons for Vassar College pitchers have come in the last two seasons, as Joe Lovizio (.199, 2^nd), Zander Mrlik (.222, 4^th) and Johnny Mrlik (San Francisco, CA/St. Ignatius Prep) (.223, 5^th) starred in 2013 while Trent Berg (.188, 1^st) and Adam Erkis (.207, 3^rd) shined last year.
 
Strong Wall
Over the last few seasons, now-junior catcher Cory Wuenschell (Pittsburgh, PA/Mt. Lebanon) has posted the program's best fielding percentage of players with more than 100 chances, posting a .993 clip over his last two seasons.
 
Iron Man
Senior shortstop Jason Garfinkel (Encino, CA/Harvard-Westlake) comes into the year with 107 games played, and if he plays 33 more will move into second all-time behind just Chris Shukie and his 162 games played.
 
Not Up In Here
Sophomore hurler Adam Erkis has already tied for the school record in career shutouts, blanking two opponents last season as a freshman.
 
Big Guy
Head coach Jon Martin is the all-time winningest coach in program history, earning 98 wins thus far in his tenure. With two more, he'll become the first head coach in Vassar Baseball history to reach the century mark.
 
Up Next
The Brewers will return from Florida in the hopes of hosting Lehman College for a non-conference doubleheader March 23 at 2 p.m. on Prentiss Field.