SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.—The Skidmore College baseball team dropped a pair of Liberty League games to close out the season Sunday at Castle Diamond. The Raptors won the first game 5-4 and the second 18-7.

The Thoroughbreds end the season with a 12-23 overall and 6-16 Liberty League record. Bard ends its season at 11-25 and 6-18.
In game one, Bard took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, but the Thoroughbreds responded in the bottom half of the inning, tying the game with a Josh Brown RBI fielder's choice.

 Skidmore nearly pulled in front in the second, but Raptors right fielder Jeff Goldrosen made a spectacular diving catch in the gap to save a run before doubling the runner off at first.

 After a scoreless third, Mike LaVita put the Thoroughbreds ahead with an 0-2 RBI single down the right-field line, plating Dan Miller. Skidmore continued to threaten, loading the bases after Nick Barra singled and Kevin Cross was hit by a pitch, but Bard pitcher Steve Marotta managed to get out of the jam with a groundout.

 The Raptors struck back quickly, regaining the lead with three runs in the top of the fifth. 

Bard extended its lead to 5-2 in the seventh, but the Thoroughbreds fought back in the bottom of the inning. After Eric Damphousse and Brown each reached with infield singles, Dan Miller delivered a two-out two-run double to left-center to bring Skidmore within one. With the winning run at the plate, J.P. Fisher stepped in and recorded a strikeout, earning his first save of the season and the 5-4 win for the Raptors.

 Damphousse finished 2-for-4 with a run scored and Jeb Clarke was also 2-for-4. LaVita went 2-for-3.  Senior Nick Petrella went the distance on the mound, allowing five runs (three earned) on eight hits with one walk and three strikeouts.

Schlosser went 2-for-3 with a double, a run and an RBI. Marotta picked up his first win of the year, giving up four runs (three earned) on 10 hits with a walk and four strikeouts over 6.2 innings.

In the second game, Bard scored 10 runs in the fourth and six in the ninth on the way to the 18-7 win.

The Raptors' Alec Montecalo had a two-run double in the first to get things started. Skidmore got one back in the bottom of the first on a Nick Barra sac fly and tied it 2-2 with an unearned run in the second.

Bard would send 16 players to the plate in a 10-run third. Adam Carafotes keyed the inning with a towering three-run home run.

Skidmore tried to get back in it behind some solid relief work from Justin Willig. Willig tossed five shutout innings, before running out of gas in the ninth.  The Thoroughbreds scored five runs over those innings to cut it to 12-7. Nick Barra had his first home run of the season to account for the seventh run.  Freshman Nick Fronte came off the bench to go 2-3 with a double and a pair of RBI during that stretch.

Miller was 2-4 with two runs and Petrella had a pinch hit single in his first at bat of the season.

Goldrosen was 3-6 with a double and four RBI. Monteclavo was 3-5 with two runs and three RBI. Carofotes was 2-4 with three runs and five RBI.
Fisher (1-6) got his first win of the season. He went 6 1/3 and gave up six runs (five earned) on nine hits, three walks and he struck out four.