SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – The University of Rochester baseball team kept its Liberty League Tournament hopes alive on Friday afternoon, winning 9-5 over host Skidmore College at Castle Diamond.
Rochester, the tournament's top seed, moves to 28-13 on the season with the victory. Skidmore, the second seed, falls to 24-16 and is eliminated after its second loss in as many days.
UR now moves on in the loser's bracket to play in the 4 p.m. matchup on Friday against the losing team in the RIT/Ithaca winner's bracket game. The advancing team from that game will battle the unbeaten team on Saturday for the conference tournament crown.
In the Skidmore win, Rochester started out of the gate exceptionally fast, with five straight base hits. Aaron Whitley and Joseph Rende singled and Jackson Reed laid down a perfect bunt to load the bases.
Colton Avera laced a double to left center to score two and Colby Cruser followed with an RBI single to right, moving the score to 3-0.
After a walk was sandwiched in between two strikeouts, Avera scored on a wild pitch. Number nine hitter Jacob Matzat lined a 2-run double to left, completing the huge 6-run first inning.
Skidmore scraped together a run in the second with a two-out RBI single from Sam Kornet, getting on the board.
Rochester loaded the bases looking for more runs in the third, but Skidmore's Ewen Donald escaped the jam without any further damage.
Avera increased the lead in the fourth, slugging a 2-run home run to right center. The homer was the fourth of the year for the Yellowjackets first-year.
The Thoroughbreds looked to get back into the game in the sixth, getting two runners on with one out, but Rochester's Trevor Van Allen got a pair of big strikeouts to thwart Skidmore's scoring chance.
Van Allen's start was the 39th of his Yellowjacket career, breaking a tie with Blair Veenema '09, for the most in team history. The UR graduate student also ranks among the top-10 in strikeouts and is now tied for second in wins with 20 over the course of his career. Van Allen is 7-1 in 2023, matching his win total from 2022.
He finished with 7 innings pitched, allowing 11 hits, 3 runs and 2 walks. Van Allen added seven strikeouts, none bigger than hitting the inside corner on Anthony Petersen to end Skidmore's 2-run seventh inning, stranding two additional runners on-base.
Skidmore tried to rally in the ninth, plating two runs off of reliever Justin Grossman, but the UR right-hander struck out Kornet swinging to end the game and keep Rochester's championship run alive.
Five Yellowjackets finished with multiple hits in the win, led by Avera and Reed who both were 3-for-5. Avera finished a triple shy of the cycle with four RBI and two runs, while Reed added a double and three runs scored.
Whitley, Rende and Josh Leadem added two hits, with Whitley and Rende each scoring a run.
Skidmore's offense was paced by Jackson Hornung and Brendan O'Neill who each had a 3-for-4 day at the plate. All nine Thoroughbred starters had a hit, but for the second day in a row, much of the damage done by UR's opponent at the plate was via single, with 11 of 13 hits only going for one base.
Quinn Hocom took the loss for Skidmore, surrendering six runs in the first inning. Donald gave up two runs, while Justin Posnik finished off the game for Skidmore, tossing the final five innings with two strikeouts.