Potsdam, NY – A furious race home from second base by Sal DiSanza (Elbridge, NY) in the bottom of the 10th inning of game two helped the Clarkson University Baseball team salvage a split in a Liberty League doubleheader against Union College as the Golden Knights won the second contest 6-5 after dropping the opener 8-5 Saturday afternoon.
The Golden Knights moved to 5-19 overall and 5-7 in conference play while Union went to 7-18 overall and 6-11. The two teams face one another again in a doubleheader on Sunday, starting at noon.
In the first game, the Dutchmen used a combination of good fortune and solid hitting to produce seven runs in the second inning. The Golden Knights committed two errors and found themselves out of position on a pair of bunts as Union used those miscues to its advantage. Pat Wilson and Zach Tillo capped the inning with back-to-back two-out hits to score the sixth and seventh runs of the frame.
Clarkson responded with two in the bottom of the inning thanks to a run-scoring ground out by Zach Richardson (Parishville, NY) and an RBI-double by Matt Giordano (Liverpool, NY). Union completed its scoring with a run in the third on a hit by Scott Carroll to make the score 8-2.
The Knights added two in the fourth on a double by Ryan Glavin (Syracuse, NY) and another in the seventh inning on a single by Brian Theilemann (Troy, NY), but the deficit was too great for Clarkson to overcome in the final frame.
Andy Brown went 3-for-3 and Zach Tillo was 3-for-4 to lead Union’s 14-hit attack. Theilemann came through with two hits for Clarkson.
In game two, the teams did their best to put the ball in play, combining for only two strikeouts in 74 at bats. However, the defenses held strong for most of the game. Clarkson got on the scoreboard in the second inning when Sean Griffin (Walden, NY) came home on a groundout. Union responded with a run in the third as Kyle Murphy laid down a perfect bunt to score Andy Brown. Griffin scored again in the fourth, once again being plated on a groundout. The Dutchmen came back with the tying run in the top of the sixth on a single by Carson Strang, which plated Zach Tillo who had reached third after a single, passed ball, and sacrifice bunt.
The runs came more traditionally in the seventh for Union as designated hitter Matt Smith hit a two-run homer to right to give the Dutchmen a 4-2 edge. Another run came around on a fielder’s choice, giving Union a 5-2 lead. Clarkson rallied with three runs of its own in the bottom of the eighth inning when Griffin came home on a groundout by Zach Richardson and Ryan Glavin delivered a two-run single to make the score 5-5.
The game remained tied until the bottom of the 10th as pinch-runner Sal DiSanza scored from second base on a fielder’s choice and a throwing error by Union second baseman Scott Carroll. With runners on first and second, Matt Curry (Richland, NY) hit a groundball to the shortstop, who flipped the ball to Carroll. A hard slide by Matt Giordano made the play more difficult for Carroll, who was unable to get enough on the throw to complete the double play. The short hop eluded Carson Strang and DiSanza motored around third base to score the winning run.
Jaime Tunison (Ithaca, NY) earned the win for Clarkson, pitching nearly four innings of hitless relief, while Brian McLaughlin took the loss for Union. Matt Smith, who homered for Union, went 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Andy Brown, Kyle Murphy and Matt Wentworth also had two hits for the Dutchmen. TJ Brinkman (Troy, NY) went 3-for-4 to lead Clarkson, and Sean Griffin was 1-for-3, but scored three valuable runs.
