AMSTERDAM, N.Y. -- The Union College baseball team defeated Bard in, 3-1 and 6-5, in a Liberty League doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Shuttleworth Park.
The sweep improves the Dutchmen to 10-10 on the season with a 6-4 mark in the Liberty League. Bard falls to 12-14 with a 6-8 mark in conference play.
Junior pitcher
Colin Nye threw a one-hitter in teh first game of the afternoon, conceding the lone hit in his final inning on the mound in the 3-1 win. Nye recorded his third win on the season, conceding no earned runs in the seven-inning contest. First-year
James Salemme earned his first collegiate win in the second game, while sophomore
Blake Newcomer picked up the save.
Overall,
Elias Kuhns led the Dutchmen with a .600 batting average, going 3-for-5 with one double and three runs scored.
Sean Cullen and
Andy Labeck both went 3-for-6 (.500) and scoring one run each. Labeck finished the day with two RBI's as well.
In the first game of the day,
Matt Toy hit a two-RBI single to center field in the second inning to score
Colin Kelly and Kuhns, giving Union the early 2-0 lead. Later in the fifth,
Joe Ganim scored on a wild pitch to record Union's final run of the day. In the top of the seventh, facing a 3-0 deficit, the Raptors recorded their first hit and subsequently ended up scoring a lone run off an error before the Dutchmen could get the final out.
The nightcap saw the bats for both teams heat up, as Union narrowly out-batted Bard 10-9 in the contest. Bard got on the board first with a grand slam in the second inning to go up 4-0. Fortunately, the Dutchmen chipped away at the Raptor's lead, first with a solo run in the bottom of the second as
Anthony Amoroso was walked with the bases loaded, allowing Kuhns to score.
In the third, Union scored four runs on three hits and two errors to take a 5-4 lead. Labeck got the scoring started in the inning with a two-RBI single to center, scoring Kuhns and
J.R. Lopez. Labeck then drew the Bard catcher into an error while stealing second, which allowed Kelly to tie the game up at 4-4. That was followed up by an error during Amoroso's plate appearance, which gave Labeck safe passage home and the Dutchmen the lead.
After battling an 11-pitch at-bat, Kelly hit a sacrafice fly in the seventh to score
Sean Cullen for the 6-4 lead. Bard hit a solo home run in the eighth, but
Charlie Hoover and Newcomver combined for the final six outs of the contest to help the Dutchmen hold on for the win.
Union finishes off its weekend series with Bard tomorrow morning at Annandale-on-Hudson,N.Y. Due to expected rain later in the day, first pitch for the doubleheader is scheduled for 11 a.m. (ET).
