SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The Union College baseball team holds the No. 1 seed as the Dutchmen will play as the host to the 2013 Liberty League Baseball Tournament starting Thursday, May 9 at Siena Baseball Field.

Union will be amongst the field of No. 2 Rensselaer, No. 3 St. Lawrence and No. 4 Vassar in the tournament. The three day event is a double elimination tournament and each team is guaranteed to play at least two games.

Rensselaer and St. Lawrence will play the first game as the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds while Union and Vassar will clash as the No. 1 and No. 4 seeds. For more information about the tournament and the schedule, please click here.

This marks the first time Union has reached the conference playoffs since 2004 when the Dutchmen competed in the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Conference (UCAA). The UCAA later became known as the Liberty League.

Scouting Opponents
Rensselaer comes into the tournament as the No. 2 seed with a record of 25-13 and 16-9 in conference play. Shane Matthews who boasts a .412 average with four home runs and 33 RBI's offensively leads the Engineers. Sean Conroy leads the pitching staff in earned run average as he holds a 2.04 ERA while Mike Camisi paces the team in strikeouts with 40. RPI ranks second in the Liberty League in both staff ERA (3.45) and batting average (.307). Rensselaer leads the all-time series with a 68-92-1 record. However, the Dutchmen took 3-of-4 from their Route 7 counterparts this season in a home-and-home series back on the weekend of March 30.

Last season's regular season champion St. Lawrence holds the No. 3 seed in the tournament. At the plate, Khifer O'Connor paces the Saints with a .394 batting average with one home run and 29 RBI's. Carter Franz serves as the power hitter for the Saints as his seven dingers leads the Liberty League. Joe Riley serves as the ace for St. Lawrence as he has compiled a 1.39 ERA with 37 strikeouts. The Saints boasts the best fielding team with a .970 percentage while .299 overall, ranking third in the conference. St. Lawrence leads the all-time series against Union with a 21-45 record but Union swept the Saints in a midweek home doubleheader on April 9.

Vassar makes their first-ever playoff appearance as the Brewers hold a 17-18-1 record overall and 12-14 in Liberty League contests. First baseman Brett Zazinski holds the highest batting average in the Liberty League with a .444 average with 29 RBI's this season. He also paces the conference in doubles with 17. Zander Mrlik leads the staff as his 1.69 ERA, fourth best in the Liberty League.  The Brewers have a solid defense behind their pitching staff, ranking third in the conference with a .964 percentage. Overall, Union leads the all-time series with a 22-14-2 record. This season, the Dutchmen and Brewers exchanged wins both home and away, posting a 2-2 record on the weekend of May 4.

Regular Season Accolades
The Dutchmen finished the season with a 24-11 record overall with a 20-6 record in Liberty League Play. Union had the most wins in program history in a regular season with 24. Additionally, the Dutchmen tied a Liberty League with 20 wins in conference play, matching the 2006 and 2009 Rensselaer Engineers when they compiled records of 20-4 and 20-3 respectively.

Starting Rotation
Union's starting pitching has been ranked amongst the best in Division III as the staff earned run average stands at 2.27. Leading the staff is junior right-hander Dane O'Neil who holds a 6-1 record and an earned run average of 1.12. The Canajoharie, N.Y. native held a streak of six complete games wins including three shutouts before O'Neil was given a 4-0 loss at home against the Brewers on May 4. Assisting O'Neil includes, righties Seth Roberts and Jamie Faber and lefty Phil Kemp. Roberts holds a 5-1 record with a sub-two ERA of 1.42 with just nine walks all season. Kemp leads all Union pitchers in strikeouts with 46 while the rookie Faber has also compiled a 5-1 record.

The .400 Club
For the first time since 2001, the Dutchmen have a hitter who has finished the regular season over .400. However, Union has two batters this season over the .400 mark in outfielders Tyler Heck and Vince Esposito. The outfielder tandem has 105 of Union's 333 hits this season. Heck boasts a .415 average with three home runs and 26 RBI's while Esposito is batting .412 with two home runs, 18 RBI's and six triples, a league-high. As a team, the Dutchmen pace the Liberty League in batting average with a .309 average.

Steals
Once again, the Dutchmen led the league in stolen bases with 90 as a team. Leading the team in stolen bases is Heck who went 37-41 in stolen base attempts. As of April 28, Heck ranked 18^th nationally in stolen bases and fifth in stolen bases per game. Alongside Heck, Esposito swiped 13 bases on 17 attempts while outfielder and designated hitter Matt Barretto had nine steals on 11 attempts.

Rensselaer and St. Lawrence will open up the tournament at 12:00 p.m. Thursday, May 9. Vassar and Union will follow with their contest at 3:30 p.m.