SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The Union College baseball team had a lot to celebrate in a doubleheader sweep over Skidmore College on senior day to clinch the series and the two seed in the Liberty League East Division on Saturday at Central Park A Diamond. Union walked off game one 12-11 before taking game two 16-5 in eight innings.

With today's sweep, Union (25-7, 10-4) will host the number four seed in the Liberty League West Division next weekend in the Liberty League Crossover series. Union will know their opponent after the final league games are completed Sunday afternoon.

The series win over Skidmore is the first since 2021.

Sophomore Caleb Miller extended his hitting streak to 21 games while senior Thomas Parisi recorded a hit in his 13th consecutive game. Parisi has also reached base safely in all 31 games this season and is on an active 37 game streak dating back to the final six games of the 2023 season.

Game One: Union 12, Skidmore 11
Following a back-and-forth thriller in game one of the series last night, the two teams combined for another dramatics game with Union coming out on top with a walk-off win.

Mentzer highlighted the game with a senior day grand slam, the first of his career. Including Mentzer, six members of the Garnet Chargers recorded a multi-hit game. Miller led the way with three.

After a scoreless first inning for both teams, the Thoroughbreds added one run in each of the next two innings to take a 2-0 lead. Sophomore Cooper Ames hit a leadoff single in the third and made it to second on a sac bunt by senior Ryan Cowles. Sophomore Liam McIlroy drew a walk and Parisi hit a bunt single to load the bases with one out. Mentzer launched a homerun over the right field fence for his first grand slam.

Skidmore was not phased and struck back with seven runs in the top of the fourth frame. An RBI single followed by an RBI double gave the Thoroughbreds a 5-4 edge before a two-run homerun made it a three-run game. Skidmore tacked on two more before a strikeout looking ended the frame. Junior Sam Strazza hit a leadoff homerun in the bottom of the fourth to make it a four-run game.

The Thoroughbreds responded with one run in the top of the fifth. Union closed the gap with three runs in the bottom of the fifth. Mentzer was hit by a pitch and back-to-back doubles by Miller and junior Kyle Zaslaw put two runs on the board. Ames hit a sac fly later in the inning to cut the difference to two.

Trailing 11-8 going into the bottom of the eighth, Zaslaw hit a sac fly to make it a two-run game. Union loaded the bases and Strazza tied it up with an RBI single that drove in a pair of runs.

Knotted at 11 apiece in the bottom of the ninth, Cowles hit a leadoff single through the left side. Parisi sent a single to center field. With two runners on and two outs, Skidmore made a pitching change. Miller sent a blooper of a single into shallow right field and Cowles raced home from second for the walkoff win.

Sophomore Alex Oppenheimer started and went 3.2 innings with nine runs, six earned, and a strikeout. Senior Bryce Fournier entered the game and pitched one inning with one run, unearned, on two hits and a pair of strikeouts. Sophomore Jack Klein fanned four in 3.2 innings with one run, unearned, and four hits. Senior Kyle Patlove earned his third win of the season with 0.2 scoreless innings.

Game Two: Union 16, Skidmore 6 (8 innings)
The rubber match between the two teams was settled in a speedy two hours and 40 minutes compared to the previous two games that both surpassed the three-and-a-half-hour mark. Union reached the 10-run advantage to reach the Liberty League's run rule to end the game in the eighth inning.

Mentzer and Cowles recorded three hits each in the final game. McIlroy, Parisi, and Zaslaw registered two hits each.

Skidmore struck first with a pair of runs in the first inning and held a 2-0 lead going into the bottom of the third. Union's bats came alive with four straight hits to start the third. Keaveney hit a leadoff double and Cowles registered a single to put runners on the corners. McIlroy drove in the pair with a double to center field to tie the game. Parisi hit the go ahead run with an RBI single up the middle. Miller drew a walk and Zaslaw doubled down the left line to put Union up 5-2.

The Thoroughbreds added a run in the top of the fourth and knotted the game at five each with a two-run homerun.

Parisi hit a bunt single to start the fifth and stole second. Mentzer singled through the right side to put Union up by one. Miller singled down the left field line to put runners on first and second. Strazza drove a double into center and Union took an 8-5 advantage. Miller hit a sac fly in the bottom of the sixth for Union's ninth run of the game.

Skidmore added one run in the top of the seventh on a sac fly for their final run of the game. The Garnet Chargers tacked on six runs in the bottom of the frame for the nine-run edge. Cowles hit an RBI single through the left side to load the bases. Parisi drew a bases-loaded walk and Mentzer followed it up with a bases-clearing triple down the right field line. Zaslaw added an RBI single into left field for Union's 15th run.

Needing only one run to end the game in the eighth, Union came through. Strazza was hit by a pitch to start the inning and made it to second on a throwing error. A fly out to right field moved Strazza to third. McIlroy hit a sac fly to center and Strazza scored to end the game.

First-year Jack Collins picked up his fifth win of the season with six complete innings. Collins fanned four and allowed five runs, four earned, on eight hits. Patlove returned to the mound in relief and pitched two scoreless innings with a strikeout to earn the save.

Prior to today's doubleheader, Union honored the seven members of the senior class: Anthony Ruzzo, Thomas Parisi, Ryan Cowles, Kyle Patlove, Bryce Fournier, Sebastian Pike, and Kobe Mentzer.

Union returns to non-conference action with a game at Middlebury College on Monday. First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. at Forbes Field.