Rochester, NY - Freshman Bryan Chudy (Goshen, NY) was put in a tough spot for his first postseason start, but the righthander delivered an outstanding game for the Clarkson University Baseball team, but the squad fell short in its bid to return to the NCAA Tournament as Skidmore outlasted the Golden Knights 3-1 in the Liberty League Championship game.
The Golden Knights closed out the regular season with a record of 19-18 and finished 2-2 in the conference tournament. Skidmore swept through with a perfect 3-0 mark, improving to 30-13.
Skidmore junior Nick Laracuente, who was hit hard in his first start against the Knights in the regular season, allowed three hits and a run in the first three innings of the contest on Sunday, including an RBI-single by David Kinney (Mexico, NY) that drove in Jerry Coleman (Potsdam, NY) in the third frame. However, the righty controlled the pace of play for the remainder of the game and allowed just three hits over the final six innings and excped from a pair of jams in the sixth and eighth innings. In the sixth, Justin McInerney (Grand Island, NY) opened the inning with a single, but Kinney grounded into a double play, hitting a laser at Skidmore shortstop Anthony Ferri, who snagged the ball and started the 6-4-3. In the eighth, Kinney and Brett Peplowski (Albany, NY) were in a first-and-third situation, but Laracuente snagged a liner back up the middle off the bat of Brady Torbitt (Fulton, NY) to again escape the difficult situation.
Skidmore scored two runs in the second inning to take the early lead before Clarkson pulled back to within one in the top of the next frame, but the score remained at 2-1 until the eighth inning. With one out, Brian Lowry lifted a fly ball to right to score Rob Rubenstein with a key insurance run.
Chudy pitched well for the Knights, allowing just five hits over seven and two-thirds while striking out five. Laracuente out dueled the freshman, giving up six hits but whiffing nine in his complete-game victory.
Torbitt, Chudy, and Matt Curry (Richland, NY) were selected to the Liberty League Championship All-Tournament team.