POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (April 29, 2016) – The Vassar College baseball team will look to extend its winning streak this weekend, as it returns to Liberty League action with four games against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in a pair of home-and-home doubleheaders. Vassar is fresh off a four-game sweep of Rochester Institute of Technology last weekend, while dispatching of Mount Saint Mary College Wednesday afternoon 11-1.

Game Details
Opponent:
vs. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (10-21, 9-7 Liberty)
Links:
(Vassar's Baseball Home Page)(Roster)(Statistics)(Schedule)
(RPI's Baseball Home Page)(Roster)(Statistics)(Schedule)
Site: Troy, NY & Poughkeepsie, NY
Facility: Robison Field & Prentiss Field
Date: April 30-May 1, 2016
Time: 1 p.m. Saturday (DH), 12 p.m. Sunday (DH)
Coverage: 
Saturday: (Live Stats) (Live Audio)
Sunday: (Live Stats) (Live Video)

A Look At The Brewers (16-15, 10-6 Liberty)
The Brewers come into this pivotal twin bill with RPI playing strong baseball of late, especially since the return of sophomore standout Bobby Kinne. The smooth-swinging third baseman returned to the lineup full time against Western Connecticut State two Sundays ago, and since then Vassar has gone 6-1 while posting a team batting average of .333 with Kinne himself has batting .481 over that span. Senior Nick Johnson has also been hot lately, hitting .440 over the last seven games with seven doubles and 12 RBI in that span. In all, eight players are hitting over .300 during Vassar's six-game winning streak. The pitching has been equally as stout, posting a 3.38 ERA over the last two weeks, striking out 48 batters in 48 innings while holding opposing hitters to a .247 average against. Coming into the weekend, the Brewers are posting the Liberty League's fourth-best average at .292, and have only struck out 131 times this season, which is the third-lowest total in the conference.

On the mound, the Brewers will look to junior right-hander Adam Erkis to continue his strong pitching of late, as he is currently 10^th in the Liberty League in ERA with a 2.80 clip. Erkis is also second in the conference in innings pitched at 45, and has fanned 35 batters as well which is tied for fifth in the league. Jonathan Hong leads the Brewers with three wins this season, and reliever Robert WInkelmann is 2-1 with a 3.94 ERA, chalking up a team-high 14 appearances and a squad-leading .206 batting average against. At the plate, Johnson continues to pace the Brewer offense with a .387 clip, which is tied for fourth in the conference, while his 15 doubles are the most in the Liberty League. Johnson is listed in seven statistical leaderboards coming into the weekend. Kinne is batting .358 on the season, while Brooks English is hitting .288, posting the second-most hits for Vassar with 30. Cory Wuenschell has driven in 20 runs this year coupled with his eight doubles, and Denis Shanagher leads the team with 23 runs scored while VC has posted a 5-0 mark with him in the No. 9 hole. Mike Koscielniak has started the last 13 games and has at least one hit in 11 of those.

A Look At The Engineers (10-21, 9-7 Liberty)
The Engineers have not been great in non-Liberty League action this season, going 1-14 when battling non-conference opponents but that hasn't affected the Engineers ability to pick up valuable in-conference victories as RPI is very much in the thick of things in the standings. RPI has last their last two contests coming into the weekend, falling to Williams 4-0 on Wednesday and Western New England 4-1 on Thursday afternoon. RPI comes into the weekend hitting .260 as a team, which ranks ninth in the Liberty League. The Engineers are also last in the conference in walks, on-base percentage and fielding percentage. In conference-only play though, RPI has the second-most doubles with 32, while the Engineer pitching staff has been solid, striking out 101 hitters in 124 innings.

Individually, Sam Lawrence has led the way for the offense, as he comes into the weekend 10^th in the conference in hitting with a .345 average. Lawrence is fourth in the conference in doubles as well with six. Chris Holomakoff is second on the squad with a .298 average, while Weston Hawkins is batting .286 with five doubles and 13 RBI. J.T. Sawyer is the lone played on the roster to start all 31 games for the Engineers, as he's hitting .262 with 13 runs scored. Matt Lawrence has scored 18 runs for RPI, bested only by the 19 from Christian Spagnuola. Brendan McNerney is the ace for RPI's staff, as he is registering a 2.52 ERA over nine games, and Greg Echeverria also has a 3.64 ERA over eight starts. Stephen Sciavone and Aaron Kalish are the other weekend starters that Vassar will most likely see.

Against RPI All-Time
The Engineers have held a decided advantage on the all-time series with the Brewers, winning six of the 43 games played between the two teams. RPI has earned four of the last six contests, and 11 of the last 14, though the Brewers did take a walk-off victory last year down at Columbia University.

Other Brewer Notes:
- Freshman right-hander Jesse Mulham posted his best outing as a Brewer Wednesday, allowing two hits and one run over six innings in picking up his first collegiate win. In the process, he lowered his ERA from 6.75 to 4.70.
- Vassar's current win streak of six games is the second longest in program history, topped only by a seven-game stretch back in 2003.
- Nick Johnson has reached base safely in each of the last 20 games, tied for the longest stretch this season by a Brewers. Junior Mike Koscielniak is right behind with a 16 game mark.
- Bobby Kinne has the longest current hit streak of any Brewers, chalking up a seven-game hit stretch for the Brewers.
- Brooks English is starting to heat back up, after a torrid start that saw him hitting .387 after the first 10 games. He has now posted hits in five of his last six games, including two knocks in three of his past six contests.
- Adam Erkis has thrown the ball very well lately, allowing just one run over his last 14 innings, surrendering just nine hits over that span.
- Vassar College catchers have done a great job at shooting down attempted base stealers, as Dakota Sagnelli leads the Liberty League with 11 attempted stolen base attempts thwarted. Fellow senior Cory Wuenschell has also thrown out four, while freshman Jake Doyle has caught one runner as well.
- The middle infield this year for Vassar has been great, as Matt Hernandez and Eric Strickland have combined to make just 12 errors between them.
- Mike Koscielniak is chalking up a team-best BABIP of .528 so far this year; the next closest number is .400 by freshman Matt Schwartz.
- Freshman Joe Conti has thrown the highest percentage of strikes this season for VC, pouring 67.1 percent of his pitches in the zone. On the contrast, Bobby Kinne is seeing the most strikes, as 67.7 percent off all deliveries he's seen have been strikes.

Up Next
Vassar will finish its non-conference slate next Wednesday afternoon at 4 p.m., taking on Manhattanville College on Prentiss Field.