Schenectady, NY- The Skidmore College baseball team swept Union with a pair of 9-4 wins in Saturday afternoon's Liberty League action at Central Park.
The Thoroughbreds improve to 17-5 overall and 4-4 in the league, while the Dutchmen fall to 7-11 and 3-7.
In the opener, Skidmore put up seven runs in the sixth inning to help senior
Nick Laracuente improved to 7-0 on the season as the Thoroughbreds picked up a 9-4 win.
Union scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the first on Tyler Heck's fielder's choice that scored Matt Barretto to make it 1-0 Union.
Union answered right back in the third inning on Joe Bradlee's RBI single and made it 3-1 in the fifth when Vincent Esposito singled home David Peretti.
The Thoroughbreds took control of the game in the sixth inning as they scored seven runs, six with two outs. They scored seven runs on six hits to go along with three stolen bases in the inning. Pollacchi led the surge with a two RBI triple and
Brian Lowry drove in two with a single.
With Skidmore up 8-3, the Dutchmen added a fourth run in the six to close the gap but the Thoroughbreds would get the run back in the seventh on Pollacchi's fourth RBI of the game.
Nick Laracuente pitched a complete game for Skidmore, giving up eight hits, four earned runs, while striking out six. Pollacchi finished 2-for-3 with four RBI, while Lowry went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI and Watkins went 2-for-3 with two runs scored.
Dane O'Neil pitched Game 1 and went 5.2 innings and gave up seven hits, five earned runs, walked three and struck out five for Union.
In game two, the Thoroughbreds never trailed, putting up three runs in the top half of the first and punding out 14 hits to win the nightcap by an identical 9-4 score.
Skidmore took the lead in this game as they scored three runs in the first inning on a double from
Rob Rubenstein and a two-run single by Lowry. They added three more in the fourth to take a 6-0 lead behind RBI singles from
Jeremy Selecky and
Matty Tatkow.
Union got on the board in the bottom of the fourth when Dom Calistro drove in Heck to make it 6-1.
Two more Thoroughbred runs would score in the seventh to increase their lead to 8-1. A Union run would come in bottom of the inning when Heck reached on an error that scored Peretti from third base.
Skidmore would tack on another run in the top of the eighth on a run-scoring single from Rubenstein.
Union picked up two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning on a Dan Minnes RBI grounded out to first and a wild pitch which scored Calistro to make it 9-4.
Union had a chance to close the gap in the bottom of the ninth as Barretto and Heck both reached base after being hit by pitches to open the inning, but
Isaac Forman settled down and retired the next three batters to secure the win and the sweep.
Zack Rudman picked up the win in game two to improve to 3-1 on the season. Rubenstein and Lowry each had a pair of RBI in game two.
Brendan McLaughlin started for the Dutchmen and went six innings giving up 10 hits, six earned runs, four walks, and struck out one. Heck was 2-for-3 with a triple, a run scored and a RBI. Dom Calistro was 2-for-4 with a double, a run scored, and an RBI.
Both teams play again tomorrow in Saratoga Springs with game time scheduled for 12 pm.
