The University of Rochester and Clarkson University split a pair of one run games in a Liberty League conference baseball doubleheader on Saturday at Towers Field.
Rochester (24-9, 15-3 Liberty League) won game one by a 2-1 score in eight innings, earning head coach Joe Reina his 300th career win at Rochester while Clarkson (18-6, 11-5 Liberty League) would snag game two by a 6-5 score.
Game one proved to be a pitchers duel between Rochester's Evan Janifer and Clarkson's Ted Wilson. Janifer would go seven innings and yield 4 hits, 1 walk and an unearned run with 3 strikeouts while Wilson went 7.2 innings, scattering 7 hits, 2 runs while striking out 4. Rob Mabee pitched a scoreless eighth inning for Rochester and earned the victory.
UR would get on the board first when Jake Meyerson provided a sacrifice fly scoring Nolan Schultz who tripled to lead off the inning.
The score would remain 1-0 Rochester until the top of the 7th. Matt Jenack led off with a single for the Golden Knights. He would be erased after the next batter, Chris Miller, lined into a double-play at first base, putting UR one out away from the win. Greg Jasek would single with two outs allowing CU to stay alive. The next batter was Will Coleman who reached on a throwing error that the base umpire said pulled UR 1st baseman Josh Ludwig off the bag, allowing for two on and two out. Nolan Driscoll then stepped up and singled to left scoring the tying run and sending the game two extras.
In the 8th, UR's Sam Slutsky singled with one out and was doubled in two batters later by Lance Hamilton, giving Rochester the 2-1 walk-off win.
In game two, Clarkson would jump on the Yellowjackets early, getting five runs across in the first three innings. Will Coleman provided a 2-RBI single in the first and Paul Ludden would scamper home on a throwing error in the 2nd. The 3rd inning saw Coleman drive in another with a groundout and Driscoll provided a sac fly to put the Golden Knights up 5-1.
Rochester's first run came in the first inning when Schultz singled in Brian Munoz who reached safely in both games Saturday, extending his streak of getting on base to 33 games, once every game so far in 2015.
UR would get three runs in the fourth, clawing back within one. Tyler Schmidt would score on a wild pitch and then Munoz would clobber a 2-run home run to left to make the score 5-4 Clarkson. The following inning, Schultz would hit a solo homer to even the score at 5-5.
In the sixth, Clarkson would push the go-ahead and eventual winning run acrosse when Anthony Padrazo singled in Ludden who walked and was bunted over to second.
Rochester would strand one runner on base in the bottom of the inning and then went down 1-2-3 in the 7th to seal the win for Clarkson.
On the mound, Clarkson reliever Andrew Smith picked up the win while Coleman earned the save after getting the final six outs. UR's Dan Warren started and went three innings, allowed 7 hits, 5 runs (4 earned) and walked 2 with 1 strikeout. Mabee pitched in his second game of the day in relief, picking up the game two loss in four innings of work.
In game two, Munoz was 2-3 with a homer, 2 runs and 2 RBI while Schultz had a 2-4 day with a homer, run scored and 2 RBI.
Clarkson's Chris Miller went 3-4 with two runs in game two while Coleman drove in three runs in a 1-3 performance. Padrazo added a 2-3 day with an RBI and Ludden was 1-2 with two runs.