Game 1
Game 2

Potsdam, N.Y. – Defending Liberty League champion Clarkson University climbed back into the Liberty baseball race at the expense of Skidmore College 4-2 and 10-4 Friday at Jack Phillips Stadium.

The Golden Knights moved back above .500 at 10-9 overall and improved to 4-6 in conference games, while Skidmore fell to 13-6 overall and 6-4 in league contests. The two teams will play another conference doubleheader starting at 12:00 noon on Saturday.

Skidmore opened the first game with a run in the top of the first inning as Geoff Green reached on a dropped fly ball. Leejay Pollacchi singled Green home on a bunt after Green had moved up on a wild pitch, giving the Thoroughbreds a 1-0 lead. However,  the advantage evaporated quickly as the Knights struck for two in the bottom half of the inning, to take a 2-1 lead.

The score would remain unchanged for the next four innings as Bryan Chudy and Skidmore's Zack Rudman tossed up zeroes on the scoreboard into the sixth inning. In the bottom half of the frame, Clarkson got a one-out walk from Matt Jeneck, who was then followed by a single from Jerry Coleman on a shot back to the pitcher. The duo executed a double steal to move into scoring position and Scott Morrissey then delivered a two-run double as his liner sent chalk flying about 10 feet behind third base, giving the Knights a 4-1 edge. In the top of the seventh, Skidmore would pick up a run on a bouncing single through the middle from pinch-hitter Brian Lowry and a sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third with just one out. Chudy struck out Green swinging and then induced a groundball to end the threat, giving Clarkson a 4-2 victory.

Matty Tatkow went 2-for-3 for the Thoroughbreds. On the mound, both starters pitched well as Chudy whiffed seven and walked none in his complete-game victory, while Rudman struck out six and allowed six hits and three walks in six innings of work.

In the second game, Skidmore picked up a run in the first inning on a two-out bloop single from Pollacchi. That was the final hit the Throughbreds would get until the sixth inning.

Clarkson then scored four times in the bottom half of the first and three in the second to take a 7-1 lead.  

Skidmore got one back in the sixth, scoring a run on a double from Erik Watkins, and two more an  inning later to make it 7-4. The Knights responded with three more in the eighth for the 10-4 final.