AMSTERDAM, N.Y. – The Union College baseball team pounded out 21 hits in 18 innings as the Dutchmen swept Skidmore College in a key Liberty League doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Shuttleworth Park. Union walked off with a 4-3 (11 inn.) win in game one, then carried that momentum to a 14-7 game-two victory.
 
Senior Colin Kelly led the charge for the Dutchmen, going 5-for-7 (.714) with two homers, six runs batted in and three runs scored, and with his second homer of the day broke a tie with James Griglun '04 to become the school's all-time leader with 19 career long balls. Classmate Jack Koch also drove in six runs and went 6-for-9 with a homer and four runs scored, while fellow senior Matt Toy hit a homer as part of a 3-for-8 day.
 
Game 1: Union 4, Skidmore 3 (11 innings)
 
Junior James Salemme and sophomore Ben Mlavsky combined for 22 strikeouts in 11 innings, but Union needed a game-tying run in the bottom of the seventh to stay alive and Toy followed with a walkoff homer in the 11th inning to send Union to a game-one win.
 
Salemme was nearly untouchable for much of his outing on Saturday, tossing 6.1 innings and striking out 15 batters – the most in a game by a Union hurler since Jake Fishman struck out 18 at the University of Rochester on April 16, 2016. The first 11 Skidmore outs of the game all came via the strikeout, but mixed in were a walk and two hits, one of which was a two-run homer by Joseph Pastore that put Skidmore up 2-0 in the second.
 
The home team got one run back in the third on a Koch solo homer, then evened the score when Kelly led off the fourth with a solo shot.
 
Pastore struck again in the top of the seventh, singling home the go-ahead run to put the Thoroughbreds up again. But Union answered in its last at-bat, getting one run and nearly ending the game. With the bases loaded and one out, Koch lined a single to left field that scored senior Elias Kuhns to tie the game, but first-year Sebastian Pike was barely thrown out at the plate to keep the game going.
 
After Union left two runners on base in the 10th inning, Skidmore looked to take the lead in the 11th with runners on second and third with no outs. But Kelly cut down one run at the plate on a ground out, followed by Mlavsky getting a strikeout and fly out to escape the jam.
 
Buoyed by that momentum, Toy lined a full-count pitch from Justin Posnik over the fence in left field with one out in the bottom half, giving Union the victory.
 
Mlavsky continued to mow down Skidmore batters in relief of Salemme, tossing 4.2 scoreless inning and striking out seven to earn the win. Combined, Union's 22 strikeouts are tied for fourth most in a game in Division III history and the most since Spalding University struck out 26 Westminster (Mo.) College batters on March 29, 2015.
 
Game Two: Union 14, Skidmore 7
 
The Dutchmen did not need any late-game heroics in game two, scoring five times in the second and third innings to put the game away early.
 
Kelly paced Union with a 3-for-3 effort, homering and driving in five runs to put himself in a tie for first place in career RBIs at Union, matching the 106 of former Dutchman David Peretti '14.
 
After Skidmore plated one run in the top of the first, Union came back with five in the bottom of the second to take back the lead. Koch drove in Pike and Toy with a single to left field, followed by a sacrifice fly from senior Joey Palko. Kelly added to the total with an RBI double, and fellow senior Kevin Chaimowitz got in on the action with a run-scoring single to score Kelly.
 
The Thoroughbreds responded with four in the top of the third, but Union again came back with a five-spot in the bottom half to take control for good. The big blow came from Kelly, whose three-run homer cemented his name in the record books and also put Union up 10-5.
 
For good measure, Union added four more in the fifth inning, with Koch and Palko both delivering RBI base hits, and both Kelly and Toy chipping in sacrifice flies.
 
First-year Kyle Patlove (2-0) picked up the win in relief, tossing 2.2 scoreless innings while striking out two and allowing two hits.
 
With tomorrow's games at Skidmore already postponed, Union will return to action on Saturday when the Dutchmen begin a four-game series with Vassar College with two games at Shuttleworth Park starting at 1 p.m.