SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The Union College baseball team saw its late-inning comeback attempt come up a few hits short in an 8-6 loss to Skidmore College in game one of a three-game Liberty League series on Friday afternoon at the Central Park "A" Diamond.
Union (17-13, 4-3 Liberty League East) scored the final six runs of the game to bring the potential game-tying run to the plate with two outs in the ninth, but the rally came up short. Despite the loss, Union remains in a tie for second in the division with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with five divisional games left.
First-year
Dylan Swarts had a big effort at the plate for the home team, going 4-for-5 with three runs batted in. Junior
Caleb Miller also had two hits, drove in a run and scored three times.
Skidmore (17-10-2, 9-1 Liberty League East) did most of its damage against Union senior
Chris Suter with two outs, getting several timely hits to take a 6-0 edge after five innings. Landon Schwartzman followed a Union error with a two-run homer in the second inning, and the visitors added another in the third on an RBI double by Sam Kornet, who finished the day 3-for-4. Andy Pelc provided the big blow in the fifth, sending a three-run homer over the right-centerfield fence to double the Thoroughbred advantage.
Down by eight heading into the bottom of the sixth, Union took advantage of a Skidmore error to get on the board. After a scoreless seventh, the Garnet Chargers scraped together another run in the eighth on a Swarts RBI double, but could not score again as Skidmore starter Chase Siegel got a strikeout and groundout with two runners in scoring position to end the frame.
Those missed opportunities loomed large after Union scored four times in its last at-bat. Miller drove in one run with an infield grounder, and Swarts provided some excitement with a bases-clearing double that suddenly made the score 8-6 and brought the tying run to the plate. However, Charles Modlin came in to get a strikeout to end the game.
Suter (6-2) suffered the loss for Union allowing six runs (four earned) on eight hits in five innings. Sophomore
Brendan Reid kept his team in the game by tossing 3.2 scoreless innings of two-hit relief for the Garnet Chargers. Siegel kept Union off balance for the most of the day, allowing eight hits and two runs (one earned) with seven strikeouts over eight innings.
Union and Skidmore will finish off their weekend series with two games tomorrow beginning at 11 a.m. in Saratoga Springs.
