POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (April 21, 2017) – The Vassar College baseball team (11-12, 4-5 Liberty) will look to keep its winning ways going this upcoming weekend, taking on Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for four games Saturday and Sunday in Liberty League action. VC will head north on Saturday to take on the Engineers in Troy, NY at 1 p.m., with the teams playing on Prentiss Field at noon for a pair of contests Sunday.
 
Game Details
Opponent: vs. RPI (13-14, 6-4 Liberty)
Links: (Plattsburgh Baseball Home Page)(Roster)(Schedule)(Statistics)
Site: Saturday: Troy, NY; Sunday: Poughkeepsie, NY
Facility: Saturday: Robison Field; Sunday: Prentiss Field
Time: Saturday: 1 p.m. (DH); Sunday: Noon (DH)
Live Coverage:
Saturday: (Live Stats)(Live Audio)
Sunday: (Live Stats)(Live Video)
 
Last Time Out: The Vassar College baseball team pounded out 17 hits against Mount Saint Mary, upping its win streak to six games in a 10-3 win Wednesday over the Knights. Vassar never trailed in the ballgame, as sophomore Jake Doyle and junior Matt Hernandez each posted three hits on the day. Each of the top five in the lineup for VC had at least two hits, and Billy Mathiesen earned his second win of the season, going five innings while allowing six hits and three runs.
 
A Look At The Brewers (11-12, 5-4 Liberty):
 

• Vassar will be looking to break a program record on Saturday, as the school record for consecutive wins is six, done now three times over the last five seasons. It's also the 14^th longest win streak currently in the nation.
• Freshman Matt Martino leads the Brewers in hitting coming into the weekend, posting a .431 average, which is also second in the Liberty League. His slugging percentage of .627 is also second-best in the conference.
• Martino leads the Liberty League in on-base percentage, and his six doubles is tied for the team-lead. The newcomer is 25^th nationally in on-base percentage in Division III.
• Vassar is currently tied for second in the New York Region in hit by pitches with Houghton with 38, as Cortland (45) is the only team with more.
• Freshman Evan Trausch has been great so far this season, but even more so with the bases loaded. The freshman is 4-for-5 in those situations.
• Senior Denis Shanagher has been great with two outs this year, as he's batting .462 (12-for-26) with a team-best eight two-out RBI.
• Shanagher leads the team in extrapolated runs created this season with 19.28, a metric which estimates number of runs produced based on statistics.
• Freshman Robert Pinataro has not allowed a run this year in seven appearances of 7.1 innings of work.
• VC has pulled out the tight games this year, going 5-0 so far in 2017 in one-run games, while also posting a 4-0 record when games go to extra innings.
• The Brewers haven't seen a ton of lefties this year, but Vassar is 2-0 against southpaw starters thus far.
• Matt Hernandez started hot and has started to heat up again, as he has posted hits in his last four including three Wednesday.
• Adam Erkis is second in the Liberty League in innings pitched with 34.2 this season, as he sits as the third in that category in VC history.
• The No. 6 position in the Vassar order this season has been a great spot to hit, as VC No. 6 hitters are batting .415 overall this season with a team-high 34 hits.

 
A Look At The Engineers (13-14, 6-4 Liberty):
 

• The Engineers have played good baseball lately in conference, going 5-1 in their last six Liberty League contests.
• The pitching staff for RPI has been strong this year, ranking second in the Liberty League in ERA with a 4.24 mark. RPI also has the second-lowest batting average against at .263.
• In contrast, the fielding for the Engineers has not been its strength, ranking last in the Liberty League with a .940 mark.
• Ethann Meister leads the team in slugging percentage, ranking ninth in the Liberty League with a .558 mark.
• Senior captain Sam Lawrence is fourth in the conference in runs scored with 23, while ranking in the top ten in doubles (7), RBI (17), hits (32) and homers (4). Lawrence leads the Liberty League in homers and at-bats (96).
• Justin Valente has gotten on-base at any cost, leading the League in hit by pitches with 10.
• Pitcher Brendan McNerney is ranked 45 on the active career leader list in Division III in fewest hits per nine innings with a 7.49 mark.
• Reliever Adam Aponte is 34^th in career leaders in D-III in relief appearances, making 51 through his tenure at RPI.
• As a team, RPI ranks 13^th nationally in strikeouts per nine innings with 8.8 as a pitching staff.
• Pitcher Christopher Palmiero is second in the Liberty League in ERA with a 2.08 mark, while striking out a conference-high 36 batters, 14 of which were looking.

 
Against RPI All-Time: Vassar is 8-39 all-time against their rivals to the North, as VC has won three of the last six meetings including a pair of splits last season.
 
Up Next: Vassar will take on head coach Matthew Righter's former team Wednesday April 26 in New Paltz, battling the Hawks across the river at 4 p.m. in non-conference action.