Canton, NY - After a disappointing opener in which the team was one-hit, the Clarkson University Baseball team got the offense it needed and another solid pitching performance to salvage a split against St. Lawrence, losing the first 4-0 and winning the second 4-2, in Liberty League action Saturday afternoon.
The Golden Knights moved to 16-18 overall and 10-9 in conference games, while St. Lawrence moved to 17-16 and 9-11. The two teams will battle for the final playoff spot in the Liberty League tournament on Sunday in another doubleheader. If Clarkson wins once, they receive the final spot, while the Saints need to sweep both games to earn the final spot.
In game one, Clarkson starter Rick Bittner (Lancaster, NY) and St. Lawrence's Steve Bodnar locked up as both looked sharp to start. Bittner allowed a run in the third inning when the Saints' Sam Kelly delivered a double that landed just outside the diving reach of Clarkson leftfielder Mike Bresett (Norwood, NY). The pair of starters continued to toss up zeros through the first five innings, but the Saints piled on three more unearned runs in the the bottom of the sixth inning to take a 4-0 lead. Bodnar completed his game with a flawless seventh inning, giving up a single hit and two walks while striking out six in the contest.
The second game was a different story as Clarkson tallied twice on four hits in the first inning. Matt Curry (Richland, NY) and Brady Torbitt (Fulton, NY) both came through with groundball singles with one out, putting pressure on St. Lawrence starter Sean Voss. Garrett Russell (Lake George, NY) continued the hit parade with a single through the right side to score Curry, and Austin Pitkin (Dexter, NY) followed with another hit through the left side to plate Torbitt. The Knights picked up another run in the fifth when Russell doubled in Torbitt, giving Clarkson a 3-0 lead.
On the mound for Clarkson, sophomore David Goerold (Clifton Park, NY) saw his pitch count mount, but he continually got out of jams, giving up seven hits and four walks through his six innings of work. Classmate Justin McInerney (Grand Island, NY) came on in the seventh and shut the door for two more innings.
In the ninth inning, the Knights picked up what proved to be a key run when Jerry Coleman (Potsdam, NY), who started the frame with a walk and moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt from pinch-hitter Mike Bresett, came around to score on a single to right from Steve Magovney (Watertown, NY). The run proved to be important as the Saints rallied in the ninth inning, putting their first two runners on base with no one out. Vince Baldwin (Catskill, NY) relieved McInerney and induced a fly out as the Saints finally got on the scoreboard. Sam Kelly singled home another run to make the score 4-2 with a runner on first, but Baldwin struck out Ryan Duff looking, and Matt Giordano (Liverpool, NY) made a diving catch in left center to end the game.
Curry was 2-for-5 and Russell went 2-for-4 in the second game to lead the Knights. Curry was able to maintain his .400-plus batting average with his effort in the second contest, and his hitting .405 (47-for-116) on the season.
The win was Goerold's fourth of the season as he improved his team-best earned run average to 2.08. Baldwin earned his first save of the season, and just the second for Clarkson this year.
