SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The Union College baseball team will host a conference tournament game for the first time since 2016 on Wednesday, as the second-seeded Dutchmen take on third-seeded Ithaca College in the semifinals of the 2021 Liberty League Tournament at Shuttleworth Park.
GAME DETAILS: First pitch is set for 3:00 p.m. at Shuttleworth Park in Amsterdam.
LIVE COVERAGE: Fans can follow the action with live stats and live video, or by following
@unionathletics on Twitter. Links for video and stats are available on the Union baseball schedule page or by visiting
https://www.unionathletics.com/coverage.
THE TEAMS: Union (11-7, 9-5 Liberty League) won all four games last weekend to vault past Ithaca (16-11-1, 11-6-1 Liberty League) into the second spot and earn the right to host Wednesday's semifinal game. Top-seeded University of Rochester (22-8, 16-2 Liberty League) will host fourth-seeded Clarkson University (14-15-1, 8-7-1 Liberty League) in the other semifinal. The winners will meet in the conference championship game on Saturday at the home of the higher seed.
POSTSEASON HISTORY: After making the conference tournament just one time in its first 10 seasons, Union is in the postseason for the seventh time in the last eight seasons under 11th-year head coach
Paul Mound. The Dutchmen are 14-9 all-time in Liberty League Tournament action, including conference championships in 2014, 2016 and 2018.
LAST MEETING: The good news is that Union has never lost to Ithaca in baseball; the bad news is that no members of the team are old enough to remember any of it. In fact, the teams have not met on the diamond since Harry S. Truman was the president: the Dutchmen defeated Ithaca 8-4 more than 70 years ago on May 9, 1947 in one of two recorded meetings between the two squads.
ALL ABOUT THE ON-BASE: Senior
Jack Koch has reached base in all 18 games this season and 101 of his 103 career games at Union. Koch ranks second in the Liberty League with a .553 on-base percentage this season in addition to fourth in stolen bases (nine), fifth in walks (18) and seventh in batting average (.393).
NO TROUBLE: Senior
Colin Kelly hasn't had any trouble seeing the ball well this season, as he leads the Liberty League and all of Division III in homers per game with 10 long balls in 18 contests. The senior also ranks third in the country in slugging percentage (.984) and third in the Liberty League in batting average (.419). Kelly enters the week as Union's all-time leader in homers (25), RBIs (120), total bases (264) and slugging percentage (.672).
BIG-GAME JAMES: Junior
James Salemme has been Union's top starter this season, posting a 4-1 record in six starts. The junior leads the Liberty League with 47 strikeouts and his .217 opponents' batting average against ranks second.
HE'S 'LOVIN IT: First-year
Kyle Patlove has been the Dutchmen's top reliever out of the bullpen this year, appearing in five games with a 3.97 ERA. The rookie has not allowed a run in five of his six appearances and has a team-leading two saves in his 11.1 innings of work.
ABOUT THE BOMBERS: This will be Ithaca's first year competing for a Liberty League title in baseball after moving over from the Empire 8 Conference, where the Bombers won the last eight championships and 17 of the last 19. Ithaca is hitting .300 as a team this season, led by Buzz Shirley, who is hitting .385 with 10 doubles, two homers and 22 RBIs in 28 games. Garrett Calaghan is hitting .375 with a team-leading 31 runs scored, a conference-best 34 RBIs, and an .818 slugging percentage that trails only Kelly in conference. Ithaca also boasts the best ERA in the conference at 4.54, led by the tandem of Shirley (3-0, 3.65 ERA in 37.0 IP) and Kyle Lambert (5-1, 3.54 ERA in 48.1 IP).
