Poughkeepsie, NY – A stellar start from sophomore David Goerold (Clifton Park, NY) highlighted a doubleheader sweep for the Clarkson University Baseball team, as the Golden Knights took two from Vassar College, 9-3 and 15-6, Sunday afternoon.
The Golden Knights improved to 7-7 overall and 3-1 in the Liberty League, while Vassar dropped to 2-7 overall and 1-3 in conference games. Clarkson gets a long break after playing 14 games in 11 days, returning to action next weekend when it hosts Union College.
With both teams going through two plus innings with no hits, Clarkson broke open the game in the bottom of the third inning. Pete Clarke (Tully, NY) and Matt Giordano (Liverpool, NY) led off the inning with singles and Cale Giroux (Cortland, NY) walked to load the bases. After a double play, it appeared as if Vassar might wiggle out of the jam, but clean up hitter Brady Torbitt (Fulton, NY) singled home a pair of runs with a looping single to right center, giving the Knights a 2-0 lead.
In the bottom of the fourth, Vassar pitcher Scott Allen had trouble with his control, allowing the Knights to take advantage with their patience at the plate. Mike Bresett (Norwood, NY) led off the inning and reached second on an error, and from that point Clarkson was able to walk around the bases. Allen allowed three walks and hit two batters, which surrounded an RBI single from Giroux, who had the only hit in the inning, as the Knights scored five runs in the middle frame.
In the fifth, Clarkson picked up another run on a sacrifice fly by Giordano, which plated Matt Curry (Richland, NY), who led off the inning with a double and moved up on a single from Clarke. The following inning, Curry drove in a run on a bases loaded fielder’s choice to give Clarkson a 9-0 advantage.
In the top of the seventh, Goerold lost his shutout bid when the previously steady defense abandoned him, as Clarkson made three errors to load the bases with two outs. After a pair of Vassar hits drove in three runs, Goerold struck out his career-high sixth batter to finish off the game for the Knights.
Only freshman Pete Clarke had a multi-hit game for Clarkson, going 2-for-3 with a run scored. Giordano, Giroux, and Curry each scored twice and both picked up a hit in the ball game.
In game two, the Knights got on the scoreboard first when Curry reached on a fielder’s choice. After stealing both second and third, he came around to score the game’s first run on an error by the Vassar catcher in an attempt to throw Curry out at third. The Brewers responded with a run in top of the third, when Zack Miller scored from third on an error.
Clarkson regained the lead in the top of the third inning with a single from Giroux to score Giordano, but again errors led to a pair of unearned runs in the top of the fourth as Vassar plated two to take a 3-2 advantage.
Vassar’s lead was also short-lived, as Clarkson scored five in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Knights loaded the bases with no one out, and then had four straight run-scoring plays, including a single from Giordano, a walk by Giroux, a walk by Matt Holiday (Syracuse, NY), and a fielder’s choice by Torbitt. Another run came home on an error by the Brewers, pushing Clarkson to a 7-3 edge through four frames.
After Vassar tallied another run in the top of the fifth, Clarkson picked up two runs in the bottom of the inning on RBI-hits from Clarke and Giordano. The Knights gained another run in the sixth on sacrifice fly from Torbitt, scoring Holiday, who led off the inning with a walk and advanced around to third on a steal and wild pitch. In the seventh, Clarkson scored three more, two coming on an RBI single from Garrett Russell (Lake George, NY). In their final at bat, Clarkson scored two more runs with RBI plays coming from Holiday and Torbitt.
Giordano finished 4-for-5 with three runs scored and two runs batted in. Torbitt also drove in three runs while Curry went 2-for-4 with four runs and Pete Clarke was 2-for-5.
