SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The Union College baseball team settled for a split of its Liberty League doubleheader with Vassar College on Sunday afternoon at Shuttleworth Park. The Dutchmen took game one by an 8-5 score but dropped the second game by a 7-2 margin.
 
Game 1: Union 8, Vassar 5
 
First-year Chris Suter had another solid outing on the hill and sophomore Sebastian Pike did plenty of damage at the plate to lead the Dutchmen to an 8-5 win in game one.
 
Suter (3-1) allowed only one run on four hits with five strikeouts in 6.1 innings to earn the victory, allowing a run in the first inning and keeping the Brewers off the scoreboard after that. Pike had a big game at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a homer, double, three runs batted in and two runs scored, while senior Jack DiNanno and junior Jono Santos added two RBIs apiece.
 
Vassar struck first in the opening half-inning, when Suter induced a potential double-play ball but the throw pulled the first baseman off the bag. But the Dutchmen came back with a two-out rally in the second, when first-year Sam Strazza singled and came all the way around on a double by Pike. After an infield single by junior Jack Davis kept the inning alive, Union successfully executed a double steal to take a 2-1 lead.
 
The Dutchmen tacked on five more runs in the third inning to break the game open. DiNanno plated the first run with an RBI single and came home on the team-leading sixth homer of the year by Santos. After a double by senior Colby Nash extended the inning, Pike launched a ball over the left-field fence to make it a 7-1 score.
 
After an RBI single by DiNanno in the fourth, the bats went silent for both teams until the top of the eighth, when the Brewers plated four runs to make the game interesting. But with the bases loaded and two outs, junior Harry Azadian got a strikeout to escape the jam and keep the Dutchmen in front, and then added a scoreless ninth to earn the save.
 
Game 2: Vassar 7, Union 2
 
The offense was not there for Union in the second game of the day, as Vassar scored four times in the first two innings and never looked back in a 7-2 victory.
 
Playing as the visitors in game two, Union got on the scoreboard in the first with the benefit of just one hit. Sophomore Kobe Mentzer made it all the way to third base after his single was misplayed by the center fielder, and he then scampered home on a wild pitch. However, the Brewers came back with three in the bottom half to take a 3-1 lead after one frame, then added another in the second.
 
Vassar tacked on three more runs in the fifth inning on a balk and a two-run homer by Nick Greenhawt. The Dutchmen got one run back thanks to a walk, single and wild pitch, but Union stranded two runners in scoring position to end the threat.
 
Senior Justin Cabanas had two of the team's five hits on the day, while Mentzer went 1-for-2 with a walk and two runs scored. Sophomore Bryce Fournier (0-3) took the loss for Union, allowing four runs on six hits in three innings of work.
 
Union and Vassar will complete their three-game series on Tuesday, when the Dutchmen head to Poughkeepsie for a single nine-inning game beginning at 4 p.m.