Winter Haven, FL – Multi-run innings by regional power Cortland State proved too much to overcome for the Clarkson University Baseball team as the Golden Knights dropped a doubleheader to the Red Dragons 8-4 and 13-4 Saturday afternoon at Polk Community College.
The Golden Knights fell to 2-2 overall with the losses following up their doubleheader sweep against Cobleskill on Friday afternoon. Clarkson will take on the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) on Sunday morning before taking a day off on its Florida trip on Monday.
In game one, the Knights faced Baseball America’s pre-season Division III Pitcher of the Year in Cortland’s Matt Tone, but Clarkson figured out the lefty early on putting at least two base runners on in the first three innings. The Knights struck in the top of the first for a run as Matt Giordano (Liverpool, NY) led off the game with a double. Two batters later, Brett Peplowski (Albany, NY) drove in Giordano with a single to left to give Clarkson a 1-0 lead. However, the Red Dragons would strike back with one in the bottom of the inning on a sacrifice fly.
Like the Knights, Cortland would threaten in the next two innings as well, picking up another run in the third on an inside the park home run that bounced over the outstretched glove of Mike Bresett (Norwood, NY). The game would break open for the Red Dragons in the fourth inning as Clarkson made four costly errors around five Cortland hits.
Leading 8-1, Tone seemed to settle in somewhat, but again Clarkson was able to produce base runners. In the top of the sixth inning, Brady Torbitt (Fulton, NY) led off with a triple and was driven in by Justin McInerney’s (Grand Island, NY) single to left. McInerney scored two outs later on a wild pitch as he advanced home from third base.
In the top of the seventh, Clarkson finally chased Tone out of the game with a leadoff single from freshman Garrett Russell (Lake George, NY) and a triple from classmate David Kinney (Mexico, NY), as both got hits in their first collegiate at bats. Cortland matched up relievers with the Knights lineup for the rest of the contest and was able to escape the seventh without any further damage.
Bresett and McInerney each delivered two hits for Clarkson in the first game.
For Cortland, Tone pitched six-plus innings, allowing 11 hits but striking out 10. Austin Pitkin (Dexter, NY) took the loss for the Knights. Vinnie Baldwin (Catskill, NY) pitched well in relief for Clarkson, striking out three in two innings.
In game two, Cortland appeared stymied early on by Greg Chojecki (West Seneca, NY), but the senior starter was unable to wiggle out of a jam in the first inning and the Red Dragons produced three runs in the opening frame, followed by five more in the next two innings. As the game went on, Cortland continued to put good swings on the Clarkson pitchers and maintained a solid advantage throughout the game, tacking on runs in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings to push the lead to 13-2. Clarkson scored a pair in the bottom of the final inning for the last runs of the contest.
Junior Brett Peplowski drove in a pair of runs to lead the Knights, going 2-for-4, but he was the only Clarkson player to record multiple hits.
Nick Blanco went five innings for Cortland to pick up the win, allowing five hits and a walk while striking out eight. Chojecki took the loss, pitching five innings and striking out six.
