SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – A two-run walkoff hit in the 10^th inning by Union first baseman Colin McKelligan (Canton, Mass.) lifted the Dutchmen to a 12-11 win over visiting Hamilton College in non-conference baseball action at Central Park Thursday afternoon. The win, which improves the Dutchmen to 6-19 on the season, marks the first over the Continentals in five seasons. Hamilton falls to 10-18 overall.

 

Pat Wilson (Cos Cob, Conn.) went 2-for-4 at the plate with three RBI and four runs scored for the Dutchmen, while Shawn Johnston (Hamilton, N.J.) finished 2-for-5 with three RBI. Scott Carroll (Scituate, Mass.) was 4-for-6 with three runs scored.

 

With the score tied 9-9 after nine innings, the Continentals scored two in the top of the 10^th on three hits and an error. Dan Hood loaded the bases with Hamilton's third consecutive single, and Jack Maloney came across on a Justin Atwood sacrifice fly to left. Gideon Clark later scored when Grady Vigneau reached on a fielding error.

 

Andy Brown (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) scored Union's first run of the 10^th inning when Wilson got aboard via a fielder's choice. With Carroll, who previously singled, on third, Wilson stole second while McKelligan was at the plate. The sophomore's solidly-knocked ball dropped into left field, giving Carroll time to get to the plate, but caught Wilson with the relay. The junior slid through Hamilton catcher Tom Monfiletto and was declared safe when the dust settled.

 

Union took a three-run lead in the first inning on a McKelligan sacrifice fly and a two-run double by Johnston but the Continentals claimed the lead in the top of the fourth, tagging Brown for six hits in the frame after the sophomore held the visitors to two hits over the opening three frames.

 

The Dutchmen answered back in the bottom of the stanza with a pair of runs on a hit and an error to retake the lead, but Hamilton answered right back with two more on three hits in the top of the next inning to hold a 6-5 lead after four and a half.

 

In the top of the seventh, Atwood led off with a double down the left field line before Vigneau homered over the right field fence. An Alex sac fly plated Joe Buicko later in the frame to give the Continentals a 9-5 lead.

 

The lead was short-lived, however, as Wilson drove in two with a double to center and Johnston plated another with a double to left to keep the Dutchmen within one after seven, 9-8.

 

Union tied it up in the bottom of the ninth when Wilson, who was hit by a pitch, advanced on a McKelligan sac bunt, a Johnston groundout, and then came across when Paul Mene (Falls Church, Va.) reached on an error.

 

Matt Rogers (Topsfield, Mass.) took to the mound in the eighth and closed out the game for his third win on the season. He allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits in three innings.

 

Atwood suffered the loss, his first on the season, allowing four runs (three earned) on two hits in the final 1.2 innings of work.

 

For Hamilton, Dan Hood went 4-for-6 with a run scored, and Joe Buicko was 3-for-6 with an RBI and scored two runs. Grady Vigneau was 1-for-5 with a two-run home run, and Tom Monfiletto and Alex Augustyn each drove in a pair of runs.

 

Union plays a four game home-and-home Liberty League series against Vassar this weekend to close out the season. The Dutchmen take on the Brewers in Poughkeepsie on Saturday before returning to Schenectady to host them at noon on Sunday at Central Park. Hamilton hosts Wesleyan in its NESCAC regular-season finale on Sunday at 2 p.m.