POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (March 31, 2016) – The Vassar College baseball team looks to build off its come-from-behind win Wednesday afternoon at Bard College when it battles Skidmore College for four Liberty League games this weekend. VC will travel to Skidmore College Friday afternoon at 2 p.m. for a pair of conference bouts, before turning around to host the Thoroughbreds Saturday at noon on Prentiss Field.

Game Details
Opponent: at Skidmore College (4-8, 1-3 Liberty League) (DH)
Links:
(Vassar's Baseball Home Page) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)
(Skidmore's Baseball Home Page) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)
Site: Saratoga Springs, NY
Facility: Castle Diamond at Ingram Park
Date: April 1, 2016
Time: 2 p.m. 
Coverage: (Live Stats) (Live Audio)

Opponent: vs. Skidmore College (4-8, 1-3 Liberty League) (DH)
Links:
(Vassar's Baseball Home Page) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)
(Skidmore's Baseball Home Page) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)
Site: Poughkeepsie, NY
Facility: Prentiss Field
Date: April 2, 2016
Time: 12 p.m. 
Coverage: (Live Stats) (Live Video)

A Look At The Brewers (6-8, 2-2 Liberty League)
The Brewers will look to use the momentum of a three-run comeback in the ninth at Bard Wednesday, rallying for a 8-7 win over the Raptors in non-conference play. Vassar comes into the contests with Skidmore this weekend third in the conference in hitting with a .291 clip, posting the league's highest on-base percentage at .411. VC's patience at the plate benefitted them versus Bard on Wednesday, drawing three bases loaded, run-scoring free passes. Vassar is third in total RBI with 72, and its slugging percentage of .395 also ranks third in the Liberty League. On the mound, Vassar is sporting a 5.71 earned run average, fifth-lowest in the league, while VC pitchers have not balked once on the season, the only Liberty League without the pitching error. Defensively, Vassar still has the Liberty League's best fielding percentage at .969, as the infield defense has been superb.

The Brewers offense continues to be led by Nick Johnson, who is fifth in the conference in hitting with a .392 batting average, chalking up six doubles and 29 total bases. Johnson is third in the Liberty League in runs with 13, and his 20 hits tie for the top spot in the conference. Teammate and fellow senior Brooks English is batting .349 on the season so far, drawing a Liberty League-best 14 walks so far. The next closest person in base on balls is Zach Zabel of RIT with 11, as English's on-base percentage of .533 is third in among Liberty League squads. Senior Cory Wuenschell is batting .341 as well with six doubles, and Denis Shanagher is second on the team in runs with 12, while posting five stolen bags to lead the team. On the mound, look for Adam Erkis, Trent Berg, Johnny Mrlik and Jonathan Hong to get the starts against Skidmore. Erkis is 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA so far this year, while Mrlik is 2-1 in two starts while featuring a 3.77 ERA. Junior lefty Trent Berg is looking for his first decision, holding opposing hitters to a .192 average. Reliever Robert Winkelmann has pitched in seven games for Vassar, earning a save on Wednesday against Skidmore.

A Look At The Thoroughbreds (4-8, 1-3 Liberty League)
Skidmore is coming off three tough losses to the Liberty League preseason pick in Union College last weekend, scoring six runs over the four games in taking one of the four games. Skidmore earned a 1-0 win over Jake Fishman of Union in the series opener last weekend, but couldn't keep the momentum going. Despite losing three of four to the Dutchmen, the Thoroughbreds had been swinging the bat very well while down in Florida, scoring 10 or more runs four times including posting 13 in a 13-9 win over perennial power Johns Hopkins back on March 18. The Thoroughbreds are hitting .301 as a team, which is second in the conference, while the 86 runs scored so far through 12 games are the most of any Liberty League team. Skidmore is slugging .409, second-best in the league, and getting on base at a .375 rate. The Thoroughbreds don't play a ton of small ball, having stolen only seven bases and sacrificed just five times this year. The staff for SC has a team ERA of 6.29, while sporting a batting average against of .322. The 51 strikeouts through 12 games is the lowest total in the Liberty League.

Junior outfielder Josh Brown, who earned Honorable Mention last year, has been hot to start the season posting a .436 batting average, which includes seven doubles and two homers. His 14 RBI tie for the conference lead, while his slugging percentage of .769 tops the list in the conference. Shankar Mani has started all 12 games for the Thoroughbreds, batting .391 with a team-best 18 hits, while Mike Fogarty has registered a .348 average in seven starts. Jeb Clarke is the only other player besides Brown and Mani to start all 12 games, scoring 10 runs so far. Junior starter Kenny Ajello has allowed just two earned runs in 11.2 innings of work this year, while Will Potter, Andrew Aikins and Spencer Anderson also look to be the weekend starters for Skidmore. Potter has a 4.63 ERA thus far this season, while Aikins leads the team with two wins and 17 innings tossed.

Against Skidmore All-Time
Vassar is 22-40 all-time against the Thoroughbreds, but the Brewers have won four of the last five games contested with Skidmore. Before that, Skidmore had won four straight, as the two teams have had a healthy rivalry over the years. Last season, the two teams split a pair of games.

Other Brewer Notes:
- Senior Nick Johnson is currently four doubles behind Brett Zaziski for the all-time lead in that category at Vassar College. Johnson has 45 right now, bested only by Zaziski's 49.
- Junior Robert Winkelmann has seven pitching appearances through 14 games, halfway to his number of 14 games pitched last season. Winkelmann is chasing the single season record of 19 set by Race Bottini back in 2010.
- Senior first baseman Brooks English has continued to rack up the free passes, as he has 74 for his career, fourth-most at VC. He trails Tim Reinhardt as the all-time leader with 84.
- Senior hurler Jonathan Hong has started 22 games at Vassar, the ninth-most starts for a pitcher ever for VC.
- Trent Berg's batting average against of .192 ranks fourth in the Liberty League, as he has allowed just 10 hits this season, fifth fewest among qualifiers.
- Vassar shortstop Matt Hernandez currently leads the Liberty League in assists with 42, committing just one error all season.
- Freshman Alex Hartnett has been plunked three times in just 15 total at-bats this year. In fact, VC has been hit by pitches 21 times, most in the Liberty League.
- Sophomore Eric Strickland has reached base safely in all 14 games, a streak he continued on Wednesday at Bard.
- Vassar is 2-1 this season against left-handed starters, despite featuring as many as six left-handed bats in the lineup on some occasions.
- The Brewers have scored six runs in the ninth inning this season, while allowing no runs in the final frame.
- Freshman Matt Schwartz has an astounding on-base percentage of .714 this year in 14 at-bats, posting six hits, two walks and two hit by pitch so far.
- Junior Mike Koscielniak made his first start at DH on Wednesday, and delivered a 1-for-2 day with two walks and a single.

Up Next
Vassar will have six days off before heading to Clarkson University for four games on April 9-10 for Liberty League action in Potsdam, NY.