SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — The RIT baseball team (18-6, 12-1 Liberty League) rallied for a pair of victories in a doubleheader at league foe Skidmore (9-16, 4-12 Liberty League) Saturday afternoon, by scores of 2-1 and 8-5. The two victories extended RIT's winning streak to 11 games, now the longest in program history.
 
The Tigers came on top in a tight 2-1 contest in game one. In game two, Will Gorman (Nassau, NY/Columbia) hit his 22nd career home run, and fifth of the season, in the sixth inning that put RIT ahead for good, 5-3. That homer tied RIT Athletics Hall of Famer Jeff Hall '80 for the university's all-time mark. Gorman is also now just three RBIs shy of Hall's career mark of 138. The three-run shot lifted the Tigers to a four-run inning, and ultimately an 8-5 victory in the second game.

"I really like the way our guys continue to find a way to win," said RIT head coach Rob Grow. "We continue to play our best baseball at the end of games, when it matters."
 
Game one was a pitcher's duel between RIT's Brian Reed (Rochester, NY/Penfield) and Skidmore's Spencer Anderson. Both pitchers went the distance, with the Tigers just out-hitting the Thoroughbreds, 7-6. Reed struck out six batters and allowed just one run, while Anderson had four strikeouts and allowed two scores.
 
Skidmore's Steven Gilbert gave Skidmore a 1-0 lead on an infield single in the fifth inning, which scored Shawn Klie, and broke the scoreless tie.
 
Daniel Zeglen (Scotia, NY/Scotia-Glenville) would come up with the big hit for the Tigers in the top of the sixth inning, ripping a two-run double to left center field in the sixth inning, which gave RIT its first and only lead of the game, scoring Gorman and Brett Kajganich (North Royalton, OH/Holy Name) scored the runs for the Tigers.

Reed picked up his fifth win of the season in game one, scattering six hits, while striking out six batters and walking two. He lowered his earned run average on the season to 2.06, while recording his third complete game.
 
In game two, Stevie Branche (New Paltz, NY/New Paltz) picked up his first collegiate victory, going 5 1/3 innings and striking out six batters. He allowed five runs on seven hits. Brett Bouchard (Fairport, NY/Fairport) came in during the sixth inning, got the Tigers out of a big jam and would finish it out, throwing 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. He struck out three batters and allowed just three hits for his third save of the season.
 
For Skidmore, Andrew Aikins made the start, and went a full six innings, with two strikeouts and four walks, to go with six runs on 10 hits. Ben Murphy and Joe Morrissey also saw action on the mound, allowing just three hits combined in three innings.
 
Gorman led the way offensively for the Tigers, reaching base five times, hitting the big go-ahead home run, while drawing four walks. Gianfranco Gentile (San Pedro, CA/Mary Star of the Sea) went 1-for-1 and added two key RBIs on a double in the eighth inning, while Kajganich, Navada Waterman (Coudersport, PA/Coudersport), and Phil Sammon (Ridgefield, CT/Ridgefield) also batted in a run apiece. Gorman and Patrick Mylott (Aurora, OH/Western Reserve Academy) added a pair of runs each. Kajganich was 3-for-5 in game two, as RIT slammed 13 hits.
 
Mat Marino led the Thoroughbreds with two RBIs, while Gilbert, Mike Fogarty, and Shankar Mani added an RBI each.
 
The teams swapped runs in the second and third innings, as a Waterman RBI single in the second gave RIT a 1-0 lead, before Skidmore tied it up in the third with an run-scoring single by Marino.
 
After a Kajganich RBI single gave the Tigers a 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth, the Thoroughbreds flipped the score with an RBI double by Gilbert and single by Marino, making it 3-2.
 
The Tigers opened the flood gates in the fifth, as Gorman slammed his fifth home run of the season, a three-runs shot to center field. Sammon then added one more, on a double to left that plated Kajganich, making it 6-3.
 
Skidmore tightened the game back up with two more scores in the bottom of the inning, cutting it to 6-5, but Gentile hit two runs home on a double down the left field line in the eighth, boosting the RIT lead to 8-5.
 
Bouchard would come up clutch once again, keeping the score at 8-5 and securing the victory.
 
The Tigers are outscoring opponents 87-29 over the 11-game winning streak. RIT remains all alone atop the Liberty League standings with a 12-1 mark in conference play.
 
The Tigers now lead the all-time series between the two schools, 19-11. RIT and Skidmore wrap up their weekend series on Sunday with a second doubleheader that gets underway at noon.