PRINCE ATHLETIC COMPLEX – The University of Rochester baseball team pushed its winning streak to five games following a Liberty League doubleheader sweep over Vassar College on Saturday afternoon at Towers Field.
Rochester (15-4, 5-0 Liberty League) won game one 7-4 before earning a 6-3 victory in the nightcap against the Brewers (7-11, 1-4 Liberty League). The Yellowjackets remain the lone unbeaten team in Liberty League play.
UR displayed a strong effort in all aspects of the game on Saturday, including pitching, small ball, power bats and solid defense.
In game one, Rochester starter Nolan Sparks was perfect through the first four innings, setting the Vassar order down 1-2-3 in each frame. The sophomore right hander got tagged for a single run in the fifth and two in the eighth, but finished the game allowing just three hits with eight strikeouts over seven plus innings.
The Yellowjackets opened the scoring with two runs in both the first and second innings. A Vassar pickoff error in the first allowed leadoff hitter Aaron Whitley to score and Joseph Rende to scamper around to third. Harper Sy drove in Rende with a sacrifice fly and UR was quickly up 2-0.
In the second, Whitley tripled to center to plate Jackson Reed, with Rende providing the sacrifice fly in his second plate appearance.
Vassar got on the board in the fifth, but just barely, as the Yellowjackets were inches away from an unconventional triple play. With runners at first and third, Bryce Grathwohl flied out to right fielder Josh Leadem. The runner on third tagged and Leadem's throw beat him to the plate, but a nifty slide avoided the tag. Meanwhile, the trailing runner tried to move up a base on the throw, but catcher John Moses fired a strike down to second for the double play.
Answering the Brewers run, Rochester plated three in the bottom of the inning to boost its lead to six. Whitley led off with a single to left and Rende stepped up and launched a 2-run homer to left center, his third of the season. Matt Cappelletti complete the three-run inning by scoring on a Vassar throwing error, putting the Yellowjackets up 7-1.
The Brewers tightened the gap in the eighth on back-to-back home runs from Sam Brinster and Adam Talwalkar. Brinster's was a two-run shot after a leadoff walk, chasing Sparks. Talkwalker's came off Spencer Rojahn, cutting the Yellowjacket lead to 7-4.
Rojahn finished off the eight for UR and Thomas Karpishin earned the save in the ninth, getting a double play to end it.
Rende finished 2-for-3 with three RBI and the home run, also scoring twice. Whitley was 2-for-3 with three runs, two steals and an RBI. Reed was the other Yellowjacket with two hits, going 2-for-4.
Game two's seven-inning affair was a bit more tightly contested, with each team scoring a single run in two of the first four innings. A big three-run fifth broke the game open for Rochester and the teams traded single runs in the sixth to reach the 6-3 final score.
Whitley's speed came into play for Rochester's first run in the bottom of the first. After reaching on a single, he stole second, advanced to third on a groundout and scored after Vassar's catcher made an errant throw back to the pitcher.
Vassar scored in the top of the second on a Brinster double to left and in the third on an Ezra Caspi double to right, jumping ahead 2-1.
In the fourth, Jacob Matzat laced a triple to right to score Reed, evening the score at 2-2.
Rochester's Alec Ellison tripled to right to lead off the three-run fifth and pinch runner Luke Gregory was quickly singled in by Whitley. After a sac bunt, Reed's infield single plated Whitley and Matzat notched another extra base hit, this one a double to drive in Reed and put UR up 5-2.
UR's Van Allen allowed the leadoff hitter in the sixth to reach via hit by pitch, completing his day after five plus innings. The senior righty earned the win (3-0), allowing just four hits, and three runs while striking out five and walking two.
Graduate student Jake Larson came in to relieve and allowed an RBI double from Eric Kanellis, but got a strikeout to strand the tying run at the plate to end the inning.
Dylan Stezzi scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the sixth, boosting Rochester's lead back to three, and Karpishin retired the Vassar side in order during the top of the seventh for his second save of the day.
Whitley led the Yellowjacket offense going 3-for-3 in game two with a double, two runs and two more stolen bases. Matzat was 2-for-3 with a double, triple and two RBI, while Reed also was 2-for-3 with two runs.
The same two teams finish up the series on Sunday with a single nine-inning game starting at noon.