Canton, NY - What could have been a difficult end to the s2008 eason turned out to be just the conclusion of a doubleheader as the Clarkson University Baseball team dropped a pair of games to St. Lawrence, 3-1 and 8-7, on Sunday afternoon. However, the Golden Knights learned shorlty after their second loss to the Saints that Rensselaer defeated Skidmore, giving the Green and Gold a place in the Liberty League Championship Tournament next weekend at Rochester.
The Golden Knights, who dropped to 17-18 overall and 9-11 in the Liberty League, gained the fourth seed in the Liberty League Tournament, while St. Lawrence, now 19-16 and 12-9, played its way into the tournament as the third seed. Clarkson finished in a tie with Skidmore in the conference standings, but thanks to Clarkson's 2-2 record against top-seeded Rochester, the Knights got the nod over Skidmore, which was swept by Rochester in its four games. The other team to make the post-season tournament was Rensselaer.
In the opener, Troy Lassial effectively shut down the Knights' offense, allowing just three hits and a single run in seven innings of work. Clarkson hurler Austin Pitkin (Dexter, NY) was denied his fifth win of the season, though he pitched decently enough to earn a victory, going six innings and allowing six hits and just two earned runs.
In the second game, again a St. Lawrence pitcher was able to shut down Clarkson's offense, at least in terms of run-scoring. Clarkson scattered eight hits through seven innings and trailed by two runs before breaking through with a pair in the top of the eighth inning. Back-to-back two-out hits by Brady Torbitt (Fulton, NY) and Sam Grainger (Medford, MA) tied the game 2-2. St. Lawrence responded with four in the bottom of the inning, with the big blow coming on a two-run single from cleanup hitter Charlie Cannan.
The Knights, knowing that their playoff lives could be on the line, certainly did not go down easily in the top of the ninth inning, scoring five runs on four hits as Torbitt drove in the tying run on a bases loaded walk and Grainger followed with the go-ahead RBI on a groundout. However, the rally proved to be too short as St. Lawrence came back with two in the bottom of the ninth with the winning run coming in on a Ryan Duff single that scooted past the drawn-in infield.
Matt Curry (Richland, NY) went 4-for-4 in game two while Cale Giroux (Cortland, NY) went 3-for-5. Both Sean Griffin (Walden, NY) and Mike Bresett (Norwood, NY) were 2-for-5.
