ROCHESTER, NY – Strong pitching by Josh Garber and Jake Vesling, combined with a seventh-inning rout, the Union College Dutchmen claimed the 2018 Liberty League Tournament Championship with an 8-0 win over Rochester in game two of the final on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Dutchmen only needed one win to start the day, having advanced to the final of the double-elimination tournament without a loss. Rochester narrowly escaped defeat in the first game, needing 13 innings to pull out a 7-6 win over Union. But in the rubber match, Garber and Vesling shutout the Yellowjackets on their home field for the tournament championship.
 
Union took the lead in game two in the top of the sixth inning. With two outs, Colin Kelly singled up the middle and a single to right center by Sean Cullen moved Kelly to third. With the runners on the corners, the Dutchmen attempted a double steal and Kelly scored for the 1-0 lead before Cullen was thrown out on the play.
 
The Dutchmen then strung together four hits and one error to take a massive 8-0 lead in the top of the seventh.
 
Wiley Knight got on base first with a single, before Joe Ganim and Jack Koch were given bases by the Rochester pitcher. After a change on the mound, Harrison Glatt earned a base on balls on a full count to score Knight. Vesling then followed up with a two-RBI single to right field and the Yellowjackets made a second change on the mound.
 
Kelly then reached on a field error by second base which scored Glatt and put Vesling on third. Cullen then hit a single through the right side to score Vesling, and a base on balls by Sam Kirschenbaum loaded the bases back up.
 
The Yellowjackets made a third pitching change in the inning, but Andy Labeck hit a final two-RBI single for the 8-0 Union lead before the Yellowjackets could escape the inning.
 
Garber and Vesling combined for just the team's third shutout of the season. Garber pitched the first five innings, conceding just five hits, while Vesling threw the final four innings, also conceding just five hits.
 
In the first game of the day, the Dutchmen took a 2-0 lead with single runs in the first and second innings. The Yellowjackets then posted a four-run inning in the bottom of the third and eventually held a 6-4 lead before the Dutchmen tied the game up with two runs in the eighth.
 
Both sides then posted four-straight innings of scoreless baseball before the Yellowjackets used a double and a single to score the walk-off run.
 
Overall, Union led the tournament with a team batting average of .335. Vesling was named the tournament's MVP, as he held a 0.69 ERA and struck out 11 batters through 13.0 innings of work. Joe Ganim, Sean Cullen and Bill Christopher were also named the All-Tournament team. Ganim batted .545 with six hits in 11 at-bats, Cullen was .500 with 10 hits in 20 at-bats, and Christopher held a 1.12 ERA through 8.0 innings.
 
2018 Liberty League All-Tournament Team
MVP – Jake Vesling (Union)
Joe Ganim (Union)
Jake Hertz (Rochester)
Sean Cullen (Union)
Jack Herman (Rochester)
Tyler Schmidt (Rochester)
Bill Christopher (Union)
Jack Denzer (Rochester)
Daniel Zeglen (RIT)
Matt Hernandez (Vassar)