ROCHESTER, NY – The University of Rochester baseball team closed out the 2017 season with a doubleheader sweep of visiting Skidmore College on Sunday afternoon at Towers Field.
The Yellowjackets improve to 12-18 and 9-11 in the Liberty League following wins by scores of 5-4 and 18-2. Skidmore drops to 10-24 and 4-16, finishing its season.
Rochester's 18 runs and 16 hits in game two were both season highs while UR finishes the year strong, winning five out of its last six games.
GAME ONE:
In the opener, the Yellowjackets got off to a quick start, with Tyler Schmidt clubbing an inside the park 2-run homer to right center in the bottom of the first inning. His home run scored teammate Pete Carrier who reached via walk.
UR's second inning got the Yellowjackets their final three runs of the game. Two came on a 2-run triple down the left field line by Jake Hertz and Schmidt followed up with his third RBI of the game with a sacrifice fly.
Skidmore's pitching staff would settle down the rest of the way as starter Spencer Anderson and reliver Jacob Berish would hold UR to just one hit over the remaining five innings.
Meanwhile, the Thoroughbreds began to chip away at the Yellowjacket lead against starter John Ghyzel.
In the fourth, Skidmore got on the board behind an RBI infield single by Pat Geiger. Geiger then delivered a 2-run single in the sixth inning. Shawn Klier then added an RBI single, cutting the Yellowjacket lead to just one at 5-4 heading to the final inning.
Kevin Ho then entered the game for Rochester and worked around a 2-out single to earn his second save of the year. Ghyzel went 6 innings, allowed 6 hits, 4 runs and 3 walks while striking out 8 Skidmore hitters.
Offensively, Schmidt was 1-2 with 3 RBI, Hertz was 1-4 with 2 RBI while David Rieth was 1-1 with a double and two walks.
Skidmore's Geiger was 3-3 with 3 RBI while Mat Marino was 1-3 and scored twice. On the mound, Anderson took the loss, going 4 innings while allowing 4 hits, 5 runs and 4 walks. Berish tossed two scoreless innings out of the bullpen.
GAME TWO:
Rochester's bats exploded in game two, scoring in six of the eight innings in which the team batted, twice batting around the lineup in an inning.
The scoring started in the second inning when Hertz singled to center on a blooper, scoring Jack Herman. But Hertz only got credit with a fielders choice after the runner on first was thrown out at 2nd after getting a late jump on seeing the base hit.
Skidmore tied the game in the fourth on Geiger's fourth hit of the day, a single to right, scoring Josh Brown.
The Yellowjackets then edged back ahead in the fourth when Mark Davis scored on a wild pitch.
After that, the floodgates opened, with Rochester scoring 11 runs over the next two innings, sending at least nine men to the plate in both frames.
Herman provided a bases clearing double, driving in three runs to make it 5-1 UR. Grant Kilmer then recorded UR's second inside-the-park home run of the day with a 2-run homer to right center. Corey Ziring finished the scoring in the fifth with an RBI groundout.
In the sixth, Kilmer recorded a sac fly to make it 9-1. Pinch hitter and senior pitcher David Strandberg followed with a line drive double to right scoring a run in his first career at-bat in a Yellowjacket uniform. Freshman Kyle Trombley then reached on a triple, scoring two runs, and Ziring had another productive out, driving in a run with a sacrifice fly. After six innings it was 13-1 Rochester.
Skidmore added its second run of the game on an RBI groundout from Hayden Smith in the seventh inning.
Rochester then finished off the game, scoring three more runs in the bottom of the seventh and added two in the eighth to reach the 18-2 final margin.
UR's Kilmer had a fantastic game two, going 4-5 with a home run, 4 RBI and two runs. Finch went 3-4 with two doubles and 4 runs scored. Trombley was 2-4 with a triple and 3 RBI while both Herman and David Rieth drew three walks each and scored three runs.
On the mound, Rochester's Jack Denzer picked up the victory, going 7 innings while allowing 6 hits, 2 runs (1 earned) and no walks while striking out 2. Luke Meyerson came in and got the final six outs of the game for UR and recorded one strikeout.
Skidmore used five pitchers in the game, with Andrew Aikins picking up the loss in relief of starter Ben Murphy.
Prior to the games, UR's three seniors, Strandberg, Carrier and Davis, where honored in senior day festivities which including their parents throwing out ceremonial first pitches.