UTICA, NY – After a record-breaking outing, SUNYIT junior Patrick Baker (Ronkonkoma, NY/Connetequot) has been selected as the North Eastern Athletic Conference West Division* Baseball Student-Athlete of the Week for the period ending April 17.
Baker made one start in a weather-shortened week for the Wildcats, taking the mound against conference rival SUNY Cobleskill this past Thursday. He entered the contest needing one strikeout to past Mike Brown (1997-99) for first in program history and quickly did so with a strikeout in the first inning. He finished with five strikeouts on the day, while giving up six hits and one unearned run to lead SUNYIT to a 2-1 victory and earn his team-best fifth win of the year.
Baker, who earlier this season passed senior teammate Ethan Marr (Roslyn, NY/Roslyn) for first in program history in career victories and also holds the record for most strikeouts in a season that he set a year ago, currently leads the team in starts (7), innings pitched (38.2) and strikeouts (26). The 6-foot-2 ace is a major reason why the Wildcats currently rank eighth in the nation in earned run average and 13th in hits allowed per nine innings, as he is sporting a 2.56 ERA with just 14 runs allowed (11 earned) on 28 hits.
The Wildcats are currently 8-2 in the NEAC West and 17-11 overall. They will be back in action tomorrow when they host Williams College for a nine-inning contest beginning at 4:00 pm. Due to the on-campus construction of both the $20 million field house and the new Wildcat Baseball Field, SUNYIT will play this and all other home games this season at the Larry DeLutis Field in Rome, NY. Directions can be found here.
*Beginning with the 2010 season, North Atlantic Conference (NAC) members Castleton, Husson, Lyndon State, Maine-Farmington and Thomas will play in the NEAC as associate members in the East Division. Each division will hold a championship and the two divisional champions will meet for a three-game series to determine the conference champion. The conference winner will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship.