Clarkson Athletics

Farmingdale, NY - Senior Austin Pitkin (Dexter, NY) showed why he has been the Clarkson University Baseball team's money pitcher for the past month as the big righthander scattered seven hits over nine innings to give the Golden Knights a 5-2 win over Western New England on Friday afternoon at the NCAA New York Regionals.

The sixth-seeded Golden Knights moved to 23-20 overall and are now among the final three teams in the regional, joining fellow Liberty League member Rensselaer and the winner of Cortland State/Farmingdale State Friday evening. Clarkson will face Rensselaer at 12:00 noon on Saturday. Western New England finished their season at 30-17, having lost two on Friday to the Red Hawks and Golden Knights.

(Click here for NCAA New York Regional Tournament Information - including live stats)

Clarkson jumped on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first inning as Matt Giordano (Liverpool, NY) and Cale Giroux (Cortland, NY) started off the game with back-to-back singles. Thanks to a pair of errors on Giroux's hit, both players came around to score, giving the Knights a 2-0 lead. An inning later, the Knights added another run with a two-out triple by Steve Magovney (Watertown, NY), who then came around on a single from Giordano.

It was all that the Knights would need as Pitkin dominated the hard-hitting lineup of Western New England. The Golden Bears scored a pair of runs in the fifth inning, but Clarkson responded with runs in the sixth and seventh innings to put the game away. Pinch-hitter Justin McInerney (Grand Island, NY) delivered a two-out single in the sixth and Sal DiSanza (Elbridge, NY) forced in a run with a bases loaded walk for the Knights 5-2 edge.

Pitkin allowed seven hits and a pair of earned runs while striking out seven over nine frames, winning his sixth game of the season. He did not walk a batter, but did hit one in the fifth.

Jerry Coleman (Potsdam, NY), Magovney and Giroux each went 2-for-4 while Giordano went 2-for-5.