The baseball team is joining the softball team, the women's
lacrosse team and the men and women's crew teams in postseason play. The Dutchmen, under first-year head coach
Jeremy Rivenburg, will participate in their first-ever Upstate Collegiate
Athletic championship tournament this weekend at Clarkson. Union, the No. 4 seed by virtue of its 6-6
conference record, will take on the top-ranked Golden Knights on Friday, May 7
at 3:30 p.m.
The Garnet tuned up for the event on Wednesday afternoon
(May 5) by beating Skidmore, 3-0, in a non-league nine-inning game. The win snapped
the Dutchmen's three-game losing streak and enabled them to end the regular
season with an overall record of 15-18.
“That was a big one for us,” said
Rivenburg, “I honestly think we are going to surprise some people this weekend.”
The Dutchmen have five .300-plus
hitters in their lineup. Junior outfielder
Adam Chadwick leads the squad at .376 and is followed by classmate, outfielder,
Mike Flanagan (.342), freshman shortstop Kyle Murphy (.333), senior catcher Dan
Mehleisen (.326) and sophomore second sacker Ben Brown (.308).
Senior first baseman Jim Griglun
leads Union in RBIs (22), doubles (seven) and home runs (three). Chadwick boasts team-highs in both runs
scored (23) and stolen bases (14 of 19).
Junior Frank Arcuri leads the
mound staff with his earned run average of 1.54 while freshman Eric Giovannone
is next at 3.89. Senior Dave Masi and
Giovannone share the team lead with their four victories.
The Dutchmen split their two games with the Golden Knights,
losing 7-1 before taking the nitecap 15-5.
Flanagan and senior outfielder
Cliff Eisenhut each drove in three runs to back the complete-game pitching of Masi
to give Union the second-game win.
Eisenhut had a pair of doubles among his three hits while
Flanagan stroked three singles and drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. Griglun
contributed a double and single and scored three times while Murphy and freshman
outfielder Matt Smith each stroked a pair of singles and also crossed the plate
three times. Masi, meanwhile, struck out five and walked only one.
The opener saw the Knights use a 10-hit attack, which was
led by a four-for-four effort by second baseman JJ Lorence. Griglun, freshman
infielder Brian Rhone and sophomore catcher Adam Chused accounted for the
Dutchmen's three hits.
The tournament champion earns the right to represent the UCAA in the upcoming NCAA Division III national championship event
2004 BASEBALL UCAA TOURNAMENT at CLARKSON'S SNELL FIELD
Friday, May 7–#3 Rensselaer vs. # 2 Rochester –Noon #4
Union vs. #1 Clarkson–3:30
Saturday, May 8–Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2 –9:30
a.m. Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2–12:30 Winner of Game 3 vs. Loser of
Game 4–4:00
Sunday, May 9–Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 5– Noon
Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 5 (if necessary)–TBA