Welcoming the number one seed on the east side of the Liberty League standings, the Clarkson University Baseball team faces off with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Saturday and Sunday at Jack Phillips Stadium at Snell Field.
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The Series: Shifting to a Saturday-Sunday schedule for the weekend, Saturday will be a doubleheader with first pitch of game one slated for noon while the single contest Sunday will kickoff at noon as well. The two teams last met on day two of the Liberty League championship tournament last year as RPI would rattle off ten unanswered runs, following an early Golden Knight lead, for a 10-1 win.
Key Stats for Clarkson (12-10, 3-6 Liberty League): The Knights pulled off a 12-9 mid-week victory over non-league opponents, Plattsburgh State on Wednesday as Clarkson would dig their way out of a deficit twice. CJ Cartier became the third Golden Knight this year to join the 100 hit club, behind Joe Figliolino and Aidan Kuefner, with a single to center in the sixth inning. Beau Vardion leads the team with 12 doubles so far as he is tied for first in the league while also ranking ninth overall in hits. Nathan Hartley has continued to be a reliable go-to out of the bullpen for the Knights as the junior ranks fifth overall in the conference in ERA (3.13) and fourth in innings pitched (31.2).
Key Stats for RPI (17-8, 8-1 Liberty League): The Engineers enter the weekend having won 12 of their last 14 contests and five of their last six in the league. Walker Abdallah spearheads the offense at the plate, batting .384 overall with a .500 on base percentage. The junior has a team-high 33 hits in 86 at-bats and has stolen 13 bags so far. Michael Lebenson (.356/.477/.770) leads the league with eight home runs. Ben Belliss is the only pitcher to start four or more games, with an earned run average below 2.75 as the sophomore holds a 0.79 ERA through 22.2 innings pitched with 26 strikeouts.
