Annandale-on-Hudson, NY – A couple of big innings in the early going of each game Saturday allowed the Clarkson University Baseball team to claim a doubleheader sweep of Bard College, as the Golden Knights won the first game 6-1 and held on for an 8-4 victory in the nightcap.

Clarkson improved to 8-14 overall and 6-4 in conference games this season, while the Raptors fell to 6-13 and 4-7. The Golden Knights will play another out of division conference doubleheader on Sunday when the team takes on Rensselaer.

In the opener, the Golden Knights would get all of the scoring they would need in their first at bat. Joe Pagano doubled with one out and quickly came home on a Colby Brouillette triple to left-center. Joe Figliolino followed with a single to center to plate Brouillette and then Cam Jerrett's sac fly allowed Figliolino to score. Kent Wilson later doubled to left to plate Jake Millich for an early 4-0 lead for the Knights.

Bard picked up its lone run of the contest on a leadoff home run by Bryant Elliott, and the Knights put the game away with two in the third. Millich homered to left to lead off the frame and after a two-out walk to James Mason, Aidan Kuefner doubled Mason in to put the score at 6-1. Besides the leadoff home run from Elliott, Bard would only put one runner in scoring position for the rest of the game, a base runner reaching second in the eighth.

Mateo Sarabia pitched well, allowing four hits and a walk with six strikeouts over eight frames. Tommy DiFranco came on to pick a scoreless ninth to close out the contest. Millich finished 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored, and Joe Pagano was 2-for-5 at the plate.

Game two saw Clarkson plate seven in the top of the second, which once again turned out to be all the team would need for the win. Robert Whalen started the frame with a single and advanced on a groundout, allowing Quinn Maslowski's single to score Whalen and give the Knights a 1-0 lead. CJ Cartier doubled to left-center to plate Masloswki, Pagano then singled to score Cartier, and Brouillette singled in Pagano to put the score at 4-0. With the bases loaded, Whalen then cleared them with a triple to center field in his second at bat of the inning, making the tally 7-0.

Bard chipped away at the deficit with a run in the second as Nick Hubbe led off with a double and came around after two ground outs. The Raptors scored two more in the fifth, with a first-and-third sac bunt scoring one and a Jake Stacey single scoring the other. Bard then picked up another run in the sixth on a two-out single from Mike Lynch. However, Clarkson would get an extra insurance run in the seventh, as Kent Wilson forced home a run with a bases loaded walk.

Brouillette was 3-for-4 with two runs, Whalen was 3-for-4 with three RBI, and Maslowski went 2-for-3 for the Knights. Nicholas Hofacker picked up the win, giving up seven hits and three walks over five innings. DiFranco pitched the final two innings for the Knights, giving up a run and striking out one.