SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The Union College baseball team hit five home runs in game two, including three in the span of four pitches, to salvage a Senior Day split against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Sunday afternoon at the Central Park "A" Diamond. The Engineers took game one by a 15-4 score before the Garnet Chargers came back for an 8-5 victory in game two.
 
The split keeps Union (21-15, 7-5 Liberty League East) in third place in the divisional standings, meaning the Garnet Chargers will head onto the road for a conference crossover series next weekend. Rensselaer (23-12, 8-4 Liberty League East) earns the second seed and will stay home for crossover weekend.
 
The Garnet Chargers were led offensively by junior Caleb Miller and sophomore Noah DiCaprio, both of whom went 3-for-8 with two homers on the day. Miller drove in four runs and DiCaprio plated three while both players scored twice. Senior Kyle Zaslaw, junior Andrew Keaveney and first-year Dylan Swarts all homered as well to pace the home team in game two.
 
Game 1: RPI 15, Union 4
 
Rensselaer jumped all over Union to start the day, scoring the first 12 runs of the game on the way to a 15-4 victory.
 
DiCaprio had two of Union's six hits, including his second home run of the season in the seventh inning. Miller also got on base three times with a three-run homer and a pair of walks.
 
The Engineers broke the ice in the top of the second with a single run, then broke the game open with four runs in both the third and fourth frames. Ayush Krishnappa had the big blow for the visitors with a grand slam in the fourth. A bases-clearing triple by Charlie Lapp in the seventh put RPI up by 12 after six-and-a-half innings.
 
The Union offense came alive briefly in the seventh, with DiCaprio leading off the frame with a solo shot to get the Garnet Chargers on the board. After a walk and hit batter, Miller followed with his sixth homer of the year and 16th of his career to move him into sole possession of third place on the school career homers list.
 
Senior Aidan McGee (2-2) got the start on short notice, allowing four runs (two earned) on four hits over three innings. Classmate Cal Place tossed a pair of scoreless innings on Senior Day as well for the visitors. Rylan Wade (5-0) earned the win for RPI, allowing two runs on three hits with six strikeouts in six innings.
 
Game 2: Union 8, RPI 5
 
The bats came out in full force in the second game of the day, as Union slugged five home runs as part of a 12-hit attack that earned a Sunday split. Keaveney led the team with three hits, followed by Swarts and Miller with two apiece.
 
It looked to be more of the same at the start of game two, as RPI scored four times in the rain against Swarts. But the momentum quickly shifted in the bottom of the first, as Union went back-to-back-to-back in a span of just four pitches to get within a run. After the first two batters of the frame were retired, Swarts launched a long ball to right field to get Union on the board. After seeing one pitch, Keaveney sent a ball off the scoreboard in left field to make it a 4-2 game, and DiCaprio followed on the next pitch with his second long ball of the day to make it a game again.
 
Swarts got a strikeout with two in scoring position to get out of the second unscathed, and Zaslaw reached double figures with his 10th career four-bagger to knot the score after two frames. The home team went the opposite route to score twice in the third inning, as a walk and two singles loaded the bases before back-to-back free passes to DiCaprio and first-year AJ Cutler gave Union its first lead of the day.
 
The home team went back to the long ball in the sixth when Miller deposited his second ball of the day over the fence in left to put Union up by three. After RPI got within two in the seventh, Union got the run right back in the bottom half thanks to a Cutler leadoff double and an RBI single by senior Dan Sheeran.
 
After a shaky first, Swarts (3-0) settled down to throw three effective innings, allowing just those four first-inning runs. Junior Jack Klein tossed three hitless innings to keep the Garnet Chargers in front and classmate Alex Oppenheimer allowed one run in two innings before senior Alex Erickson came on to get his sixth save of the year with a scoreless ninth.
 
Union will have one more tune-up before next weekend's crossover series, as the team will head to Ramapo College of New Jersey on Tuesday for a 3:30 p.m. matchup.