POTSDAM, N.Y. – The Union College baseball team will play a winner-take-all game three against Clarkson University tomorrow after the teams split the first two games of their Liberty League crossover series on Saturday afternoon at Jack Phillips Stadium. The Golden Knights took game one 4-2 in 10 innings, but the Garnet Chargers stayed alive with a 10-5 game-two win.
 
Senior Sam Strazza had a team-leading six hits on the day, going 6-for-8 with three runs batted in and three runs scored. First-year Dylan Swarts also had four hits and drove in three runs for the visitors over the two games.
 
Game 1: Clarkson 4, Union 2 (10 inn.)
 
Union scored a pair of runs in the eighth inning to send the game to extras, but Clarkson walked it off in the 10th with a two-run homer to take the first game of the day.
 
Senior Chris Suter did his best to keep Union in the game, tossing a career-high 9.1 innings and allowing four runs on nine hits while striking out five. Unfortunately, the offense could only muster two runs as the senior fell to 6-4 on the year.
 
Clarkson started the third inning with three straight hits to take a 2-0 lead, but Suter settled down to allow only two hits over the next five frames. Union threatened with two runners on in the sixth, but a double play ended the potential run-scoring opportunity.
 
The Garnet Chargers finally got on the board in the eighth, taking advantage of three Clarkson errors. Senior Kyle Zaslaw led off by reaching on an error and sophomore Noah DiCaprio, after a dropped foul ball gave him a second life, doubled to put two in scoring position with one out. Swarts drove in one run with a sacrifice fly and another Clarkson error allowed DiCaprio to come home with the tying run.
 
Union stranded runners in scoring position in both the ninth and tenth innings, which came back to haunt the visitors when Beau Vardion hit a two-run walkoff homer to give the Golden Knights game one.
 
Game 2: Union 10, Clarkson 5
 
The offense came alive in game two for Union, as the visitors pounded out 16 hits and scored 10 runs to force game three. Strazza went 4-for-5 with three RBI and three runs scored in the win, while Swarts and Zazlaw both drove in two apiece.
 
The visitors got on the board first in the top of the second with a two-out rally. Junior Cooper Ames singled with two down and first-year AJ Cutler walked, and both runners came home on a Strazza gapper to left-center.
 
Clarkson responded with a five-spot in the bottom of the third, but Union came back with three runs on five hits in the fifth to even the score. Strazza led off with a single and came home on a two-run homer by Zaslaw, moving him into seventh place all-time at Union with 11 career long balls. Singles by junior Caleb Miller and DiCaprio preceded a Swarts RBI single to knot the game at five.
 
The Garnet Chargers continued their run by scoring in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings to secure the win. Strazza doubled home Ames and Miller added a sac fly in the sixth to put Union ahead for good, followed by an RBI groundout by Ames in the seventh and a run-scoring single by Swarts in a two-run eighth.
 
Sophomore Jacob Skarlis tossed five innings to earn the win for Union, allowing five runs on six hits with three strikeouts. Senior Aidan McGee allowed three hits in 1.1 scoreless innings of relief, and junior Alex Oppenheimer came on and induced a double play to get out of the seventh and did not allow a hit the rest of the way to earn the save.
 
Union and Clarkson will play game three of their crossover series tomorrow at noon, with the winner advancing to next weekend's Liberty League Tournament.