The return of wintry weather has postponed the start of Liberty League baseball for Hobart and RIT. The Western New York rivals were scheduled to play a three-game series starting Friday at McDonough Park.
 
Instead, the teams will play a doubleheader at RIT beginning at noon Sunday, March 24 and then close the series at Hobart beginning at 4 p.m. Monday, March 25. A webcast and live stats for Sunday's doubleheader will be available on RITAthletics.com with HWS All-Access and Live Stats also available from McDonough Park on Monday.
 
The Statesmen enter conference play with an overall record of 5-7. They are looking to rebound from an 8-5 loss at Penn State Altoona on Tuesday.
 
The Tigers are 4-9 overall and aim to snap a five-game slide. They last played on March 16, suffering a 10-3 loss to Muhlenberg in Florida.
 
SCOUTING THE STATESMEN

• Hobart is fourth in the Liberty League in team ERA (5.09) and fifth in team batting average (.284).
• Sophomore outfielder Will Jones leads the Statesmen at the plate, hitting .417 with 14 RBIs, 10 runs, and four stolen bases.
• Sophomore Teck Nash has thrown a team-high 18 innings off the mound, including a complete game shutout at Cobleskill. He leads the team's starters with a 3.50 ERA.
• Out of the bullpen, junior Nicholas Franceschi is 2-1 with 17 strikeouts and a 2.53 ERA in five appearances.

 
SCOUTING THE TIGERS

• RIT is sixth in the Liberty League in team batting average (.283) and 10th in team ERA (7.17).
• Junior outfielder Adam Marsh has a team-high .407 batting average with 11 runs and nine RBIs.
• Graduate student Alex Slotter has the best ERA among the team's starting pitchers (4.15). In 17 1-3 innings, he's recorded a team-high 25 strikeouts and sports a 2-2 record.
• Sophomore Luc Rising is the team's top reliever. In four appearances, he has 10 strikeouts and a save while allowing just three hits in 9 2-3 innings.

 
SERIES HISTORY

• RIT swept the three-game series against Hobart in its return to varsity status season last year.
• Prior to that, the Statesmen had won six in a row over the Tigers, sweeping doubleheaders in 1993, 1994 and 1995.