Potsdam, NY – Two impressive starting pitching performances led the Clarkson University Baseball team to a pair of victories over Vassar College on Tuesday afternoon as the Golden Knights swept a Liberty League doubleheader 9-0 and 10-2 at Snell Field.
The Knights evened their record at 8-8 overall and are now on a three-game winning streak, moving to 2-4 in conference play. Vassar fell to 4-8 and 0-6. Clarkson will have no break, facing Brockport State in a non-league game Wednesday afternoon at Duffy Fairgrounds in Watertown, NY.
In the opener, Clarkson started up with a pair of runs in each of the first two innings as Matt Holiday (Syracuse, NY) delivered a two-run double to left in the bottom of the first inning, and Cale Giroux (Cortland, NY) squeaked a line drive underneath the glove of Vassar’s leftfielder, and the ball rolled all the way to the fence for an inside-the-park home run in the second. The Knights added three in the fourth when Mike Bresett (Norwood, NY) forced in a run with a bases-loaded hit by pitch, which was followed by a Brett Peplowski (Albany, NY) single that drove in two more. With the game in hand in the seventh inning and up by seven runs, Clarkson tacked on two insurance runs when Bresett and Peplowski hit back-to-back triples and Sean Griffin (Walden, NY) came through with a sac fly.
Junior Austin Pitkin (Dexter, NY) pitched six strong innings, allowing just three hits and two walks while striking out seven. The right-hander didn’t allow a base runner to reach third in his six innings of work. Alex Giovannone (New Hartford, NY) pitched a scoreless seventh inning to close out the game for Clarkson. Dan Orme pitched five innings, losing his third decision of the year, for Vassar.
Matt Curry (Richland, NY) went 3-for-4 with a pair of runs and Peplowski went 3-for-4 with two runs and three RBI. Giroux and Bresett also each went 2-for-3.
In game two, it was more of the same for Clarkson as the Knights produced six runs in the first two innings. Holiday, again, came through with a two-run double in the first, and in the second inning four consecutive batters earned RBIs with runners in scoring position to give the Knights a healthy advantage. Vassar scored the first of its two runs in the top of the fourth inning, breaking Clarkson’s run of nearly 17 innings without allowing a run. The Brewers’ Ari Glantz led off the inning with a triple and then scored on a wild pitch to cut Clarkson’s lead to 6-1.
The Knights responded with a run in the bottom of the fourth on a sacrifice fly from Curry, and then plated three more in the fifth as Griffin and Sam Grainger (Bedford, MA) drove in runs with no one out. The Knights loaded the bases with two outs and Bresett forced in another run with a walk. Vassar scored its second run in the seventh inning when Lilly Jacobson came home on a wild pitch.
Greg Chojecki (West Seneca, NY) started game two for Clarkson, allowing just four hits and a walk while striking out eight. Steve Magovney (Watertown, NY) pitched the final inning for the Knights and accomplished a rarity in the sport of baseball, striking out four batters in his one frame. Alex Tansky took the loss for Vassar, allowing nine hits over four innings in the start.
Matt Holiday and Cale Giroux each went 3-for-4 for Clarkson in game two, and Sean Griffin and Brady Torbitt (Fulton, NY) each were 2-for-3. Mike Plude went 2-for-3 for Vassar, doubling twice.
