Rochester, NY - Finishing with 15 hits as a team in game one, the Clarkson University Baseball team split a Saturday Liberty League doubleheader with RIT, earning a 10-7 win in game one before falling 8-2 in game two.
Clarkson moves to 8-5 overall, 1-1 in conference play and are scheduled for a single game with RIT on Sunday, March 22nd, weather permitting. RIT now owns a 6-8 overall record while moving to 1-1 overall.
RIT jumped onto the board first in game one as Roberto Reade managed to connect on a solo homer over the left field wall in the bottom of the second for an early 1-0 lead. With Seth Albert and Aidan Kuefner both reaching base to lead off the top of the third, Clarkson managed to reverse the deficit before the closing of the half inning. A sacrifice bunt from James Mason moved both runners into scoring position before a wild pitch allowed Albert to cross home and Kuefner to move to third. With two outs, Beau Vardion then connected on a single to right to score Kuefner and make it 2-1.
RIT, however, would again take the lead in the bottom of the third as doubles from Trent Rapp and Caelen Kim came before and after a hit by pitch to drive in two more runs and make it 3-2 in favor of the Tigers.
Despite the momentum shift, the next three innings for the Knights produced eight straight runs as Albert followed two singles from David Harris and James Chagnon with a home run to left on an 0-2 count to make it 5-3 in the top of the fourth. Following a quick bottom half of the inning the Knights managed to add another run early in the top of the fifth as Nolan Merrow doubled to center on another 0-2 count, bringing in Joe Figliolino from second. David Harris would then walk to load the bases with no outs and CJ Cartier brought in the team's seventh run with a sacrifice fly to center to make it 7-3. A Chagnon double in the next at-bat would score both Harris and Merrow as Clarkson took a 9-3 lead past the halfway mark of the opening contest.
Not done scoring just yet, James Mason doubled to open up the sixth before Figliolino followed with a double of his own to plate Mason and make it 10-3. Despite a single from Vardion in the next at-bat, the Knights were unable to add even more as RIT forced two groundouts and a fly ball to center to get out of the inning.
The hosts nearly managed to crawl back into the game, scoring one in the bottom of the seventh and three in the bottom of the eighth to make it 10-7, but Nathan Hartley would recover from a shaky eighth to force the Tigers to go 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth and preserve an opening Liberty League conference win for the Golden Knights.
Six different batters tallied multi-hit outings for Clarkson led by Chagnon who finished 3-5 at the dish with two RBIs. Albert would go 2-3 in the batter's box with three RBIs while scoring twice himself. CJ Kanick continued his impressive stretch on the mound going six innings, giving up six hits while striking out eight. Hartley struck out two while gaining the save.
RIT would again get the scoring started in game two while also limiting Clarkson's offense till later on in the nightcap. One run in the bottom of the first and another two in the bottom of the second put the Tigers up 3-0 while the defense of the hosts would close out both the top of the second and third with double plays in the infield.
After a scoreless third, fourth and fifth the Tigers added five more in the bottom of the sixth with three doubles in the frame to blow the lead open at 8-0.
Leaving just three runners on base up till the eighth inning, Clarkson would finally get two back as CJ Cartier doubled down the left field line to score David Harris from first and Aidan Kuefner singled through the right side to score Cartier and make it 8-2.
A 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth would be followed with a similar three up, three down top of the ninth as the Tigers would take game two, forcing a split on the day.
Seth Albert led the Knights at the plate again in game two, going 2-3 while Cartier, Harris and Kuefner accounted for the remaining three hits. Jacob Shirley would be handed the loss in the nightcap, striking out eight while walking just three through 5.1 innings. Jack Luensmann earned the win for the hosts, fanning five through seven innings while giving up just three hits.
