2019: Enjoyed a tremendous season, with a 5-2 record on 11 starts … pitched 4 complete games and 2 shutouts … struck out 8 or more batters in 4 individual games … led the Liberty League with 66 strike outs and an opposing batting average of .198 … also led the Tigers with a 2.03 ERA on 71 innings pitched … recorded 14 assists in the field and caught 2 runners stealing ... struck out 9 batters in 7 shutout innings while giving up 2 hits at Skidmore College for the win … struck out 11 batters in 6 innings for the win against Vassar … was named Liberty League Pitcher of the Year and received an All Liberty League First Team selection … was named to the 2019 ABCA/Rawlings All New York Second Team … was named to the D3baseball.com All Region Second Team … received 2 Liberty League Pitcher of the Week honors
2018: Earned All-Liberty League honorable mention accolades … led the team by making nine starts on the mound … won a pair of games, while striking out 41 batters in 42 2/3 innings … Branche struck out a season-high 12 batters over six shutout innings in a 6-0 victory over Rensselaer … earned his first win of the season, allowing eight hits and three runs over six innings in a 13-3 victory at Bard … allowed just one hits over five innings in a late-season start against Rochester … made a start against St. Lawrence on April 13 in a game that was suspended due to weather until May 1 … started game two of an originally s schedule doubleheader against St. Lawrence later that day, allowing two runs over 5 1/3 innings.
STATS
2017: Enjoyed an excellent debut season, emerging as a dominant starting pitcher … earned All-Liberty League second team honors … went 4-1 with a 3.80 earned run average and 64 strikeouts in just 45 innings … averaged 12.8 strikeouts per nine innings, fifth best in all of Division III … opposing batters hit just .204 off him, second on the team and Liberty League … named the Liberty League Rookie of the Week, May 1 … made his collegiate debut by allowing just two runs, while striking out 11 batters against nationally-ranked Suffolk University … struck out a season-high 15 batters over 6 2/3 shutout innings in a 2-1 victory over Rochester … the 15 strikeouts in a game were the most by a RIT pitcher in the millennium … allowed just one hit and struck out eight batters over seven innings in a 3-0 win over St. Lawrence … earned the win in RIT’s 6-2 victory over Union in the Liberty League Tournament, allowing two hits and one run in 5 1/3 innings … threw five hitless innings with seven strikeouts to earn the victory in an 11-2 win at Bard … struck out at least six batters six times … had 46 strikeouts in 30 Liberty League innings, as opposing batters hit just .173 against him.
STATS
Before RIT: Played varsity baseball for New Paltz High School … earned All-Section IX, Class A First Team honors … hit .373 as a senior and also had a 1.40 earned run average on the mound … also played varsity basketball and football.
Personal: Mechanical engineering technology major … son of Diana and Steve Branche … has three sisters, Karolyn, Klaire, and Kristin.
