SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The Skidmore College baseball team continued its recent offensive surge for the third straight game, leading to a doubleheader sweep of Bard in Liberty League action Sunday afternoon. The Thoroughbreds shut out Bard 8-0 in game one and tallied 14 runs in a 14-5 victory in game two.
Skidmore wins three of four against the Raptors over the weekend to improve to 4-6 in league play and 9-9 overall. Bard falls to 8-12 overall and 3-5 in conference.
Jacob Berish had a solid outing on the mound for the Thoroughbreds in game one, pitching a complete game, two-hit shutout. He walked four batters and struck out five in the winning effort. His counterpart, Bard's Kyle Zigner, allowed two earned runs on five hits in 4.2 innings, striking out a batter.
Skidmore tallied 11 hits in the victory.
Mat Marino led the Thoroughbred offense with a 3-for-4 effort, driving in a pair of runs and stealing two bases. Pat Geiger went 1-for-2 and drove in three runs.
Josh Brown (1-for-4) and
Steven Gilbert (2-for-4) also drove in a run.
After a scoreless three innings from both squads, Skidmore struck first in the bottom of the fourth. With Marino on third, Geiger got things started with an RBI double to right field. Geiger got his second RBI in the next inning, scoring Gilbert on a sacrifice fly with two on and one out. Brown then singled in the next at-bat to score Marino to make it 3-0.
The Thoroughbreds would break the game open in the sixth. A throwing error by the Bard first baseman scored
Matt Chipkin to increase the lead to four, then three straight singles by
Ryan Strickland, Gilbert, and Matt Marino gave Skidmore a 7-0 lead. Another sac fly by Geiger a batter later wrapped up the five-run inning, giving Skidmore an 8-0 lead heading into the final inning.
After giving up a lead-off single in the top of the seventh, Berish retired the next three pitchers to earn his second victory of the season.
In game two, Skidmore flexed its muscles at the plate, getting a pair of homers from
Josh Brown and one from
Shawn Klier in a 17-hit effort. Klier and Brown each tallied three RBIs, while
Nick Fronte and
Justin Bottcher drove in a pair.
Will Potter tallied a career-high four hits, going 4-for-5.
Spencer Anderson pitched 6 2/3 strong innings for the Thoroughbreds, allowing a pair of runs on four hits, striking out three batters for his first victory of the season. Raptors' starter Frank Ortega was able to go just two and two-thirds innings in the game, as he allowed six earned runs on seven hits.
Skidmore got to the Bard pitching staff early in game two. Brown got things started in the bottom of the second, taking a 3-2 pitch about 330 feet in left field for the solo shot, his second of the season. In the third, Marino and Brown drove in runs for the Thoroughbreds, before Klier uncorked a 1-1 pitch deep past the fence in right-center field for the 3-run homer, his second of the season.
The Thoroughbreds improved on the six-run lead in the fifth. Staring at a 3-0 hitters count, Brown pulled the next pitch over the left field wall for his second solo shot of the game and third of the season. Potter and Strickland drove in runs later in the inning, and
Daniel Dasgupta drove in one in the sixth to increase the lead to 10-0.
Bard got on the board with four runs in the top of the seventh inning, and looked to threaten in the eighth after scoring their fifth run of the game. Skidmore reliever
Joe Morrissey came into the game with runners on second and third with two outs, getting Bard pinch hitter Quinn McInerney to pop out to Fronte to end the threat.
In the bottom of the frame, Skidmore put the game away with two-RBI singles by Fronte and Bottcher. Morrissey retired the side in order in the top of the ninth to clinch the Sunday sweep.
Skidmore travels to St. Lawrence for a four-game series next weekend, beginning Saturday at 1 p.m.
