SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The Union College baseball team dropped a pair of Liberty League games to St. Lawrence University Wednesday at Buck Ewing Field. The Dutchmen's comeback bid in the first game came up short in an 8-6 loss, and the Saints erased Union's early lead in the second game to win 9-6.
Pat Wilson (Cos Cob, Conn.) paced the Union offense with a 6-for-7 day at the plate that included three RBI and two extra-base hits. Andrew Ford led the Saints (9-10, 5-4 Liberty), batting 6-for-7 with three RBI and a pair of runs scored.
The Dutchmen (2-9, 0-7 Liberty) found themselves in a hole early in the first game as the Saints picked up four runs on four straight singles in the top of the first. The Saints added four more off starter
Matt Sheehan (Lexington, Mass.) in the top of the fourth on a series of singles mingled with a pair of walks, a passed ball and a two-base error awarded to Tim Harris.
Trailing 8-0, the Dutchmen got one back in the bottom of the fourth on a two-out double to left by
Colin McKelligan (Canton, Mass.) and then added four in the bottom of the next frame to cut the Saints' lead to three at 8-5.
With one out,
Brendan Moran (Damariscotta, Maine) reached on a single and advanced when
Andy Brown (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) walked.
Scott Carroll (Scituate, Mass.) pushed the pair ahead with a single before
Zach Tillo (Lancaster, Mass.) plated Moran on a fielder's choice. Wilson singled, Tillo scored on a wild pitch and
Shawn Johnston (Hamilton, N.J.) singled in another run to cap the scoring.
The Dutchmen threatened in the bottom of the seventh, getting the winning run to the plate three times in the final frame. After reaching on a walk, Carroll came around to score on a Johnston groundout to first, but Saints' reliever Steve Bodnar struck out the final Union batter to end the threat to earn his first save of the season.
Mike Root (3-1) allowed five runs on seven hits while striking out six over five innings in the win. Sheehan took the loss for Union; he allowed eight runs (five earned) on nine hits in four innings.
Game two was a different story, as Dutchmen starter
David Arouca (Wilmette, Ill.) held St. Lawrence scoreless for the first four innings and the Union bats came alive to hold a 4-0 lead after two innings.
The Dutchmen picked up three runs in the first frame on three hits. Wilson plated one with a sacrifice fly before Johnston hit a triple to deep right that scored another. McKelligan knocked a single through the right side to send another run across. Brown led off the second inning and stole second before scoring on a Carroll single through the left.
St. Lawrence took the lead in the fifth with five runs on four hits. With one out, Harris tripled to right and came around on a Charles Cannon single after advancing on a Ryan Duff walk. Christian Spicer loaded the bases with a walk before Union's Brown took to the mound. Ford singled to plate another run before Kirt Broedel had a sacrifice fly out to center. Rob Tole capped the scoring with a two-RBI double to right.
Down 5-4 in the bottom of the fifth, Union reclaimed the lead with a pair of runs, courtesy of a Wilson triple and a McKelligan double, but St. Lawrence stormed back for four runs in the sixth on two hits and an error. Joe Shehata drew a walk to lead off the inning and after a Harris double, came around to score when Duff reached on an error. Cannan walked to load the bases before Spicer was hit by a pitch. Broedel capped the inning with an RBI double.
Chris Cook (3-1) earned the win with 2.2 innings of three-hit scoreless relief work. Brown shouldered the loss for the Dutchmen.
Union continues Liberty League action Saturday in a noon doubleheader against Skidmore at Central Park. St. Lawrence hosts RPI for a pair of league games Friday at 2 p.m.
