The Hobart baseball team will play its home opener against Liberty League West rival St. Lawrence at 6:30 p.m. Friday, March 20 at Falcon Park in Auburn, New York. This week's snowfall left the natural grass of McDonough Park covered in a blanket of white.
 
The Statesmen are riding a six-game winning streak and begin conference play with a 12-5 record. Hobart is coming off an 11-3 win over Colby-Sawyer on Tuesday.
 
The Saints are 4-3 after splitting a doubleheader with Keuka on March 8. St. Lawrence won the opener 2-1, but dropped the nightcap 8-6.
 
The Statesmen and Saints are also scheduled to play a doubleheader this weekend. The day, time and location of those games are to be determined.
 
SCOUTING HOBART

• As a team, the Statesmen are batting .301 (5th in the Liberty League). The pitching staff has a league-leading 3.51 ERA, while Hobart also leads the league with a .973 fielding percentage.
• Junior first baseman Sean Garvin has played in all 17 games and is tied for the league-lead in hits (20) and runs (18). He's batting .345 with five doubles and two home runs.
• Sophomore outfielder Aidan Davenport leads the team with a .419 batting average, including two doubles, two triples and a grand slam in Tuesday's win over the Chargers. His 13 RBIs lead the team and are fifth in the league.
• The starting rotation of senior Teck Nash, junior Trevor Kimball and senior Cole Tarrant all bring 2-1 records into the series. Nash (26 1/3) and Kimball (19 1/3) and first and second, respectively, in the league in innings pitched. Nash is fifth in the league with a 2.05 ERA and Kimball is sixth at 2.33.

 
SCOUTING ST. LAWRENCE

• As a team, the Saints are batting .272 (9th in the Liberty League). The pitching staff has a 6.48 ERA, while SLU is second in the league with a .969 fielding percentage.
• Junior center fielder Jack Finnegan has a team-high .462 batting average with two triples and four RBIs.
• Senior catcher Willie Landman is hitting .429 with a team-high .556 on-base percentage.
• Sophomore Noah Clausen and junior David Zuhlsdorf have both thrown a team-high 6 2/3 innings. Clausen is 2-0 with a 1.35 ERA. Zuhlsdorf is 1-1 with a 6.75 ERA.

 
SERIES SNAPSHOT

• Since Hobart resumed varsity baseball in 2023, the Statesmen are 5-4 against the Saints.
• SLU took two of three games in the North Country last season, sweeping the doubleheader by twin scores of 7-3.