SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Rochester swept the Skidmore College baseball team (4-1, 6-2) in a battle of the Liberty League's two division leaders on Saturday afternoon.
 

• Rochester improves to 17-10 overall and 9-2 in the Liberty League (7-2 LL West). Skidmore is 16-9 and 7-4 (7-2 LL East).

 
GAME 1 – Rochester 4, Skidmore 1

• Rochester plated single runs in four different innings in the nine-inning opener.
• Skidmore's run came off the bat of Jackson Hornung, who launched a no-doubt solo blast to left-center field with one out in the fourth.
• Skidmore had just two hits in the game. Hornung had both of them. He was 2-for-3 with a single in the ninth and was hit by a pitch in the seventh.
• Rochester pitching, led by starter Nolan Sparks, struck out 14 Thoroughbred hitters. Yellowjacket ace Sparks pitched eight innings and allowed just the Hornung homer. He struck out a dozen, issued one walk, and plunked two hitters.
• Mark Aaronson picked up the save with two punchouts in the ninth and worked around the one-out single off the bat of Hornung.
• Rochester plated the game's first run in the second inning on a Jacob Matzat single.
• In the fourth, the guests made it 2-0 on another Matzat single.
• Matzat scored in the sixth to make it 3-1 on a Joseph Rende sacrifice fly.
• Rochester completed the scoring in the seventh with a solo home run from Alec Ellison.
• Ameer Hasan pitched 7.0 strong innings for Skidmore. He scattered 11 hits but limited damage to four runs. He struck out and walked two.

 
GAME 2 – Rochester 6, Skidmore 2

• Skidmore struck first in the third inning with a single run. Brendan O'Neill singled and went to second on a successful sacrifice bunt by Eddie Galvao. Cameron Pedemonti hustled out an infield single, and O'Neill moved to third with one out. Then, Danny Melillo drove in the run by beating the wrap on a potential double-play ball.
• Rochester answered promptly, with four in the top of the fourth. Colton Avera set the tone with an opposite field leadoff homer. The next three hitters reached: single, walk, single, to score two more. Josh Leadem hit a two-out single through the middle to score the fourth run from second.
• Rochester crossed the plate twice more in the sixth.
• Pedemonti hit a laser home run inside the left-field pole for Skidmore's run in the seventh.
• One batter earlier, pinch hitter Ewen Donald sent centerfielder Aaron Whitley deep to the wall before he leaped up and grabbed the ball right at the top of the fence, taking extra bases at least away from the Thoroughbred lefty hitter.
• Skidmore went down on strikes just twice in game two.
• Thoroughbred pitchers got five strikeouts.

 
NEXT UP: Skidmore will host another western team, RIT, in a doubleheader at the Castle Diamond on Sunday starting at 12 p.m.