The University of Rochester baseball team won a nail-biting 13-inning game to advance to a winner-take-all final game of the Liberty League Championship, only to see visiting Union College come away with the league title following an 8-0 win on Saturday afternoon at Towers Field.

Rochester got the walk-off win in the opening game Saturday when junior Jack Herman lined a single to right field, scoring Aiden Finch, breaking a 6-6 tie, giving the Yellowjackets a 7-6 win and a chance to win the championship despite having their backs against the wall to open the day.

UR's season ends with a 19-17 record, while Union claims third ever Liberty League title, all coming in the last five seasons.  The Dutchmen (30-11) also earn the Liberty League's automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Championships which begin next week.

GAME ONE:

Union got the scoring started with single runs in the first and second innings to jump out to a 2-0 lead.  Colin Kelly lined a single to left in the first and Jack Koch recorded a sac fly in the second inning.

Rochester jumped ahead in the third inning, scoring four runs with the help of a key Union throwing error.  Aaron Craig led off with a walk and moved to second when Tyler Schmidt singled to right.  The next batter, David Rieth then chopped a comebacker to the mound which was thrown away by Dutchmen starter Ryan Kuchar trying to get a double play, allowing Craig to score UR's first run.

After a strikeout, Herman, Steve Pickering and Jake Hertz followed with three straight singles, with each providing a run to complete UR's four-run frame.

The Dutchmen answered right away though, when Joe Ganim singled to center with two runners on, knotting the score at 4-4 through four innings.

Another Union error allowed the Yellowjackets to take the lead in the fifth, when with the bases loaded, Kyle Trombley hit a hard grounder to second which was fumbled away.  Finch, who led off the inning with a single scored the go-ahead run.

Rochester's lead doubled to two at 6-4 in the sixth when Herman singled through the left side, scoring Rieth.

The eighth inning saw Union claw back to tie the game at six.  Sam Kirschenbaum tripled to lead off the inning and was immediately driven in by an Andy Labeck sacrifice fly.  After a walk and single put runners on the corners, Koch then flied out for his second sacrifice fly of the game and Union's second of the inning.

After the second out, two walks loaded the bases for Union, but lefty Hank Powers came in and got Kelly to foul out to short to end the inning.

Both teams got their leadoff man on in the ninth, but three straight outs on each side stranded runners on first.

Both teams had their chances late in the game, with the leadoff man reaching a combined six times over the final five innings, with neither team being able to cash in on those chances.  Instead, UR staged its winning run rally with two outs, when Finch doubled to right and was immediately driven in by the Herman single.

On the mound, Rochester used seven pitchers to piece together the victory.  First-year Jon Turk got the start and allowed four runs (2 earned) on six hits across 4.2 innings.  Garrett Renslow threw 2.2 innings with two strikeouts while allowing two runs.

Owen Gabbey also threw two scoreless innings before yielding to UR's two starting pitchers from Friday, Luke Meyerson and Jack Denzer, both of whom threw nine inning complete games a day ago.  Meyerson tossed 1.2 innings on Saturday, while Denzer picked up the win, his second in less than 24 hours throwing the final 1.1 innings.

For Union, Kuchar went 4.1 innings and gave up nine hits, five runs (1 earned) with one walk and five strikeouts.  Charlie Hoover allowed one run over 3.1 innings and Colin Nye finished the game, surrendering the winning run in the 13th, his lone run allowed in five innings of work.

Herman had a monster day at the plate in the opener, going 4-6 with three RBI and a run scored.  Hertz was also 4-6 with an RBI while Finch went 3-6 with a double and two runs.

Union's Ganim went 3-5 with a double and two RBI.  Kirschenbaum went 2-4 with a triple and two runs while Harrison Glatt added a 2-5 game.

GAME TWO:

Rochester rolled the dice and went with Denzer to start the do-or-die game, and the junior hurler turned in a remarkable performance, tossing six innings while allowing just one run on five hits.  He ended up throwing 16.1 innings in just two days, finishing with a 2.76 ERA for the tournament.

Both teams traded chances in the opening inning, but came away empty, swinging the momentum.  Union's Koch led off with a double and was moved to third on a sacrifice by Glatt.  UR tried to get the lead runner but wasn't in time so Union had first and third with no outs.  Denzer escaped, getting a foul out and a double-play to hold the Dutchmen off the board.

In the bottom of the inning, UR got two runners on in the first inning after Schmidt and Finch singled, but Union wiggled out of that jam with back-to-back ground outs.

The Dutchmen were able to strike first in the sixth inning on a first and third double steal.  Sean Cullen tried to steal second with Kelly on third and when Rochester threw through, Kelly broke for home and scored before Cullen was tagged out in a rundown.

Union then was able to tag the Rochester bullpen for seven runs in the seventh inning, all coming with two outs, breaking open the tight game.  After a single, hit batter and walk loaded the bases, UR surrendered a bases loaded walk and Vesling had a big 2-run single to make it 4-0.

Kelly then reached on an error allowing a run to score, before Cullen singled to right making the score 6-0.  Labeck then finished the scoring with a 2-run single to left.

UR looked to score in the bottom of the inning, mounting a two-out rally with singles from Schmidt and Rieth, but Vesling who came on in relief on the mound got Finch to ground out, keeping the shutout intact.

Schmidt finished 3-5 at the plate for Rochester in his final game for the Yellowjackets.  Rieth added a 2-5 game in the nightcap.

For Union, Josh Garber got the win, throwing five innings of five-hit ball, not allowing a run while walking one and striking out one.  Vesling threw the final four innings and gave up five hits while striking out three.  He was named the tournament Most Outstanding Player after picking up the save following a complete game victory against Vassar on Thursday.

Joining Vesling on the All-Tournament team were UR's Herman, Schmidt, Hertz and Denzer.  Also honored for their efforts this weekend were Union's Cullen, Ganim and Bill Christopher, along with RIT's Daniel Zeglen and Vassar's Matt Hernandez.