CANTON, NY – The University of Rochester baseball team needed late game rallies in both games to sweep both a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon, topping St. Lawrence 4-3 and 8-6 at Tom Fay Field.
UR (22-11, 15-2 Liberty League) tallied three runs in its last time up in both games, earning come from behind victories to extend its conference win streak to 14 straight games. St. Lawrence drops to 8-17 overall on the season and 3-12 in the conference.
The pair of wins also keep Rochester on top in the Liberty League West Division with a 10-2 division mark, holding a lead over trailing teams RIT and Ithaca with only one weekend of league action left to play.
Sophomore reliever Mark Aaronson nailed down the save in both games on Saturday, establishing a new UR single-season record with 10 saves so far in 2023. That total is currently tied for the Division III lead and ranks him tied for third among Rochester's career leaders.
Game 1:
UR 4, St. Lawrence 3
Rochester starting pitcher Trevor Van Allen was perfect into the fifth inning in the opener and started off with five straight strikeouts to begin the game. The graduate student allowed his first baserunner in the bottom of the fifth with Rochester only leading 1-0, but responded with two more strikeouts to end the inning, reaching a new career high of 10 in the game.
The Yellowjackets opened the scoring in the top of the third when Josh Leadem singled to right, driving in Alec Ellison who kicked off the inning with a double to right center.
The scrappy St. Lawrence squad struck for two runs to take the lead in the bottom of the sixth, capitalizing on two Yellowjacket errors to lead 2-1 through six.
The following inning, Rochester's first rally of the day began with one out. Colton Avera singled and was pinch-ran for by Quincy Jaksch. John Moses added a single and after Luke Gregory bunted the runners over, Ellison was intentionally walked to load the bases.
A passed ball allowed the tying run to score and graduate student Jacob Matzat followed with a clutch single to right field, driving in two runs to put Rochester ahead 4-2.
In the bottom half of the inning, a walk, pair of ground outs and wild pitch allowed St. Lawrence to score one, but Aaronson struck out the final batter of the game to preserve the win.
Van Allen went six innings and scattered three hits and two unearned runs with the 10 whiffs. He moves to 4-1 on the season and is up to 17 career wins, ranking tied for fourth most in program history.
UR was limited to just six hits by Saints pitching, with Matzat's two RBI and Ellison's two runs scored being highlights at the plate.
Jack Sylvia went the distance for SLU in the loss, striking out four and giving up six hits and one walk.
Game 2:
UR 8, St. Lawrence 6
The Yellowjackets jumped out to an early 4-0 lead thanks to several St. Lawrence errors in the first three innings.
During the second, Leadem singled to right with the bases loaded to kick start the scoring. On the play, the ball went passed the right fielder and went all the way to the wall, allowing Gregory and Matzat to also cross home plate, putting the Yellowjackets up by three.
In the third, two more Saints errors allowed Rochester to boost its lead to four, with Avera tapping home following a bad throw on a Gregory steal of second.
St. Lawrence fought back with a single run in the third and two more in the fifth, cutting the deficit to 4-3. Caleb Clark singled in St. Lawrence's first run of the game and the Saints added two more runs in fifth on a wild pitch and ground out.
A two-out rally and a Rochester miscue in the sixth inning allowed the Saints to jump in front. Jimmy Libertatore provided the big hit in the inning, driving in two runs with a single to left.
Rochester's Avera tallied a sacrifice fly to get one back for the visitors in the top of the seventh, scoring Aaron Whitley, who reached on another St. Lawrence error in the field.
In the eighth, UR's Thomas Blaydes yielded two hits and a hit batter, but escaped the inning unscathed after getting a pop out double play and fielder's choice to keep Rochester within one heading to the ninth.
Rochester again started its final inning rally with one out in the ninth. After a lineout, Leadem and Whitley provided back-to-back singles, putting runners at the corners.
Joseph Rende stepped up and laced a hard grounder through the right side to tie the game. Reed followed by lifting a sacrifice fly to center, putting Rochester in front, and Avera added an insurance run, singling up the middle to score Rende.
Aaronson's second save of the day was not as dramatic as the first game, with the sophomore setting down the Saints in order 1-2-3, closing out the Yellowjacket comeback.
Leadem, Reed and Avera all finished 2-for-4 in the game, with Avera driving in two runs. Whitley scored twice in the win and seven of the nine UR starters crossed home with a run scored.
On the mound, Colby Cruser got the start and struck out eight over 4.1 innings. He did have some trouble finding the strike zone though, walking six in his outing that yielded an additional three hits and three runs.
Sammy Rosenfield gave up three other runs, but none were earned as the first reliever out of the pen for the Yellowjackets. Matt Casiero added a scored 1.1 innings of work and Blaydes ended up picking up the win after his escape in the eighth inning.
Rochester wraps up its non-conference slate on Wednesday evening at Towers Field with a 7 pm matchup against Alfred State. UR then battles RIT in a home-and-home 3-game series to finish up the regular season next weekend.