Poughkeepsie, NY - After a disappointing 7-6 loss in game one of the conference opening doubleheader against Vassar College, the Clarkson University Baseball team recovered with an 11-1 win in game two to salvage a split against the Brewers on Saturday.
The Golden Knights moved to 5-7 overall and 1-1 in Liberty League action, while Vassar moved to 2-5 and 1-1. The two teams will meet again on Sunday in another doubleheader, starting at 12:00 noon.
In the opening game of the twin bill, the Golden Knights cored four runs in the top of the second inning, started off by a home run from freshman Jerry Coleman (Potsdam, NY). After Coleman's solo shot, Clarkson picked up another run on an error by the Vassar first baseman and then scored two more on a single from Cale Giroux (Cortland, NY). The Knights looked ready to open up the game, but Vassar responded with five in the bottom of the second inning thanks to three Clarkson errors and four hits.
Vassar scored another run in the fifth inning, but Clarkson scored a run in both the sixth and seventh innings to tie the score up at 6-6. Matt Holiday (Syracuse, NY) drove a double down the line to score Matt Giordano (Liverpool, NY) in the sixth, and an RBI groundout from Matt Curry (Richland, NY) plated Sal DiSanza (Elbridge, NY) in the seventh. However, a leadoff triple by Vassar put the Knights in a tough spot in the bottom half of the seventh and the Brewers came away with the victory on a single up the middle two batters later.
Curry went 2-for-4 in the opener of the doubleheader and Brady Torbitt (Fulton, NY) was 2-for-3. Austin Pitkin (Dexter, NY) took the loss for the Knights, pitching a complete game and striking out seven.
In game two, the Knights put plenty of pressure on Vassar and never had to worry about a comeback as Greg Chojecki (West Seneca, NY) pitched masterfully to earn his first victory of the season. Holiday started the scoring for Clarkson when he hit a two-out three-run homer to left in the top of the third inning, his fourth bomb of the season, pushing him to 19 RBIs in 12 games this season, and 18 runs driven in over the past seven contests. In the fourth inning, back-to-back hits from David Kinney (Mexico, NY) and Brett Peplowski (Albany, NY) led off the inning for the Knights and the next three players, Sal DiSanza, Matt Curry, and Pete Clarke (Tully, NY) delivered RBIs for a 6-0 lead. From there, Clarkson tacked on two in the sixth, a run in the eighth, and two more in the ninth for an 11-0 lead.
Chojecki lost his complete-game shutout bid in the bottom of the ninth when Vassar scored a harmless run. The senior righty finished the game by allowing just five hits and a walk with a career-high 11 strikeouts. At the plate for Clarkson, Curry went 3-for-5 with three runs scored. Giordano went 3-for-6 with two runs scored and Pete Clarke was 3-for-4 with three RBIs. Peplowski also went 2-for-4.
