Knights Mash Their Way to Liberty League Championship Round

Troy, NY - Garrett Russell (Lake George, NY) and David Kinney (Mexico, NY) each hit three-run homers as the Clarkson University Baseball team pounded out 23 hits in a 17-3 victory over Rensselaer in the Liberty League Tournament winners' bracket game Saturday afternoon at Robison Field on the campus of RPI.

The Golden Knights moved to 19-17 overall and 2-0 in the Liberty League Tournament. Rensselaer fell to 24-15 overall and 1-1 in the conference championships. Rensselaer was scheduled to play in a losers' bracket game against St. Lawrence at 4:30 pm, but the game was delayed because of rain. If no other games are played for the remainder of the weekend due to poor weather, the Golden Knights will gain the conference's automatic bid for the NCAA Tournament.

Clarkson stroked 15 hits for 15 runs in the first four innings, immediately putting Rensselaer down by a substantial amount early on in the contest. Kinney doubled home a run in the first and was followed two batters later by a Garrett Russell opposite field homer to give Clarkson a 4-0 lead before RPI even was able to get its first at bat. The Engineers did score a run in the bottom of the inning, but Clarkson picked up four more in the second inning with an RBI single from Dan Lenney (Clifton Park, NY), a two-run double from David Wixted (Ballston Lake, NY), and an RBI single from Russell.

In the top of the third inning, Clarkson picked up two more runs as Jerry Coleman (Potsdam, NY) scored on an error and Wixted drove in another run with a single to left. The Knights then truly put the game out of reach with five runs in the fourth inning. Coleman delivered a bases loaded single and Lenney drove in a run with a groundout. With two on and two out, Kinney crushed a monstrous home run that cleared the left-center field fence by more than 50 feet, giving the Knights a 15-1 edge. RPI chipped away with a run in the fifth and one in the seventh, but a Wixted two-run shot in the ninth inning erased that modest gain by the Engineers.

Seven different hitters had at least two hits, led by Kinney's 5-for-6 performance with four runs scored and four more driven in. Wixted was 3-for-6 with five RBIs and Russell also drove in four on his two hits. Lenney and Justin McInerney (Grand Island, NY) also had three hits in the contest.

Clarkson starting pitcher Bryan Chudy (Goshen, NY) began the game struggling with his control, but settled down over eight innings to earn his seventh victory of the season. He allowed just six hits and struck out five in the victory.

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