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SCHENECTADY, N.Y.--The Union College baseball team will be in search of its third Liberty League Championship in four seasons when it opens the 2017 Liberty League tournament against Clarkson, Thursday morning on the campus of Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT).

Second-seeded Union faces the third-seeded Golden Knights at 10 a.m., while regular season champion RIT will play fourth-seeded Vassar in Game 2 at 1:00 p.m. The Tigers claimed the league's regular season title and the top seed of the tournament with an overall record 30-7 and 22-1 mark in the Liberty League.

The Dutchmen clinched the second seed in the tournament with a record of 20-13 overall  (14-7 Liberty League), marking their fifth consecutive 20-win season (longest active streak in LL). Senior captain leads the league in slugging (.723), doubles (16), and triples (5) and ranks second in batting average (.411), third in RBI (31) and tied for sixth in home runs (6). In 21 league games this season, Curran batted .403 with a .778 slugging percentage, 17 extra base hits, and 24 RBI. Junior Jake Vesling leads the league with a .416 batting average and is the Union's top starting pitcher at 5-2 with a 3.78 ERA. He has struck out 32 in eight starts, also pitching four complete games. Curran and Vesling enter tournament with hitting streaks of 10 and 11 games, respectively. Vesling has also reached base safely in 18 straight contests.

Ryan Kuchar put together a 4-3 season with a 2.80 ERA in 45 innings. Anthony Amoroso (.368) and Joe Ganim have also been key contributors with a combined 50 hits and 28 RBIs. First-year outfielder Matt Catalfo has stolen a league-high bases this season. Amoroso has reached base safely in 18 consecutive games, while Catalfo has reached in 10 straight. As a team, Union paces the league in batting average (.319) and stolen bases (68).

Union head coach Paul Mound became just the third coach in program history to reach 150 career wins, accomplishing the feat in just seven seasons. Art Lawrence won 226 games in 24 seasons, while Gary Reynolds won 208 in 18 seasons. 

RIT is having one of the best seasons in program history, as the Tigers set a program record with 30 wins on the year. The team has won nine games in a row, including 23 of its last 24. RIT has also set records in league wins (22) and the Tigers have won 19 straight against Liberty League opponents. Eight players are hitting at least .300, including Dom Scialabba, Daniel Zeglen and Brett Kajganich, who each boast a batting average of .352. Kajganich also has a league-high 36 runs batted as does classmate Will Gorman, who has also been a key part to the batting order. Gorman leads the team in homeruns (8), total bases (88), walks (28) and runs scored (44). The pitching staff has also been one of the league's best with an earned run average of 3.16 and they are even better in league play (2.38). Brian Reed is the team's ace, compiling a 7-1 record in the regular season and a 1.89 ERA. Jameson Moran has made seven starts for the Tigers and in 37 innings pitched is 5-0 with a 2.43 ERA and 39 strikeouts. Zeglen (2.70) is also undefeated from the mound at 6-0 while Stevie Branche (3.41 ERA) paces the team with 57 strikeouts.

Clarkson earned the third seed to advance to the postseason, posting an overall record 16-16 (12-8 Liberty League). The Golden Knights pitching staff is headline by Ted Wilson (6-0) who boasts a team-best 2.94 earned run average. In 52 innings pitched, the senior has struck out 26 and issued 11 walks. Mark Connor (3.86) has made 10 appearances for Clarkson and Andrew Smith (4.40) is tied with Wilson for a team-high 26 strikeouts. Dom Pirro leads the team from the plate with a .376 batting average and .521 slugging percentage, both of which are ranked among league leaders. He also has team-highs in RBIs (22) and runs (29). Joe Fraser has a .365 batting average and is tied for the team lead in doubles with nine. He and Cam Bando (.321) each have 21 runs batted in and a combined 31 hits.   

Vassar advanced to the league tournament for just the third time in program history as the Brewers tied a school record for wins (19) this season, going 19-17 overall and 12-8 against league opponents. Vassar has four players with batting averages above .300, including Evan Trausch who has a team-high .378 batting average. Trausch has played 31 games for the Brewers this season with nine doubles and he also leads the team with his .510 slugging percentage. Denis Shanagher has 20 RBIs while four others, including Trausch have 19 on the year. Three players (Shanagher, Matt Martino, Bobby Kinne) have two home runs apiece. Bryan Rubin and Adam Erkis have made a combined 24 apperances for the Brewers from the pitching mound. Rubin is 3-1 with a 2.29 ERA and two saves while Erikis is 4-2 to go with his 4.26 ERA. Erkis has struck out a team-high 36 batters in 50 and two-third innings. Joe Conti has also been key to the pitching staff with his 3.41 ERA in 31 and two-third innings pitched. 

Schedule (double elimination format): 

Thursday, May 11, 2017
Game 1 – (2) Union vs. (3) Clarkson, 10:00 a.m.
Game 2 – (1) RIT vs. (4) Vassar, 1:00 p.m.
Game 3 – Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2, 4:00 p.m.

Friday, May 12, 2017
Game 4 – Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2, 10:00 a.m.
Game 5 – Winner of Game 4 vs. Loser of Game 3, 1:00 p.m.
Game 6 – Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5, 4:00 a.m.
 
Saturday, May 13, 2017
Game 7 – (if necessary) Rematch of Game 6, 11:00 a.m.