PRINCE ATHLETIC COMPLEX – University of Rochester baseball held Clarkson University to just two runs on nine hits over 18.0 innings, sweeping the Golden Knights to open their three-game series at Towers Field. UR took game one behind a complete-game shutout from Nolan Sparks, 2-0, and then finished off the doubleheader with a 5-2 win in game two.
 
With the two wins, Rochester moves back to .500 at 11-11 (4-4 LL) on the year, while the Golden Knights drop to 7-11 (0-7 LL).
 
Despite playing at Towers Field, the Yellowjackets served as the road team as this three-game set was originally supposed to be played in Potsdam, NY but was moved to Rochester due to inclement weather. UR and Clarkson will wrap up the three-game series on Sunday, April 6 at Monroe Community College at 11:00 a.m.
 
Game 1: Rochester 2, Clarkson 0
Rochester would strike first against Clarkson, scoring runs in each of the first two frames against Mateo Sarabia, and that would be all Nolan Sparks needed. Jackson Reed led off the top of the first inning with a single, stole second and took third on a wild pitch. A batter later, Alec Ellison dropped a single into left-center, scoring Reed to give UR a 1-0 lead.
 
Sparks then needed just nine pitches to set down the order in the bottom of the frame, striking out the leadoff batter, Aidan Kuefner, on just three pitches, before getting a groundout and flyout.
 
In the top of the second, UR would add another, with back-to-back one-out singles from Dan Tirabassi and Sam Besztrey putting runners at the corners. The 'Jackets executed a double steal, and while Besztrey was thrown out at second, Tirasbassi scored to make it a 2-0 lead.
 
Sparks kept things rolling in the bottom of the second, striking out a pair in another 1-2-3 frame. The senior added another strikeout in the third, again setting the side down in order before Clarkson stretched out its first hit against Clarkson in the fourth.
 
CJ Cartier reached on a one-out single to break a streak of 10-straight retired for Sparks, but the senior quickly worked around the one-out baserunner, getting a flyout and groundout to send Rochester to the plate in the top of the fifth.
 
In the bottom of the fifth, the Golden Knights again picked up a baserunner on Pat Elliot's single, but Sparks again worked around the one-out baserunner, getting two flyouts to keep the Golden Knights scoreless.
 
At the plate, Rochester would leave runners on base in the fifth, sixth and seventh, but it wouldn't matter, as Sparks again worked around a one-out single some help from a 4-6-3 double play in the sixth, before striking out two more in each of the seventh and eighth innings.
 
Sparks retired the side in both frames, two of five 1-2-3 frames for the senior on the afternoon. And while Keufner gave Clarkson another one-out baserunner, drawing a hit-by-pitch in the bottom of the ninth, Sparks finished off the nine-inning, complete-game shutout, UR's first since 2019.
 
Sparks (2-2) earned the win, pitching a complete-game shutout while allowing just three hits and striking out nine. Sparks' nine-inning, complete-game shutout is UR's first since 2019, when Garrett Renslow shut out RPI on May 9, 2019.
 
For Clarkson, Sarabia (0-2) took the loss, allowing two runs on eight hits, walking two and striking out five over 6.2 innings pitched.
 
Ellison and Luke Blozy each tallied two hits to lead UR at the plate, while Reed and Tirabassi scored the 'Jackets' two runs.
 
Game 2: Rochester 5, Clarkson 2
After Besztery picked up Rochester's first hit in the top of the first inning, a one-out double down the right-field line, Dillon Bevan picked up where Sparks left off in the bottom of the frame.
 
Derrick Lewis, making the start for Clarkson, stranded Besztery at second with a pair of strikeouts, while Bevan worked around a leadoff single by Keufner, getting the next two batters after UR caught Keufner trying to steal second.
 
Both starters worked around singles in the second, with Bevan picking up his first strikeout of the afternoon, while Bevan added another strikeout in the third, setting down the Golden Knights in order.
 
Rochester then broke through against Lewis in the top of the fourth, pushing across three runs on three hits to take the lead. A one-out single by Josh Leadem got UR's offense going, and after Nathan Carpenter-Holmes drew a walk to put runners at first and second, Dylan Stezzi smashed an RBI double to right, scoring Leadem to give UR a 1-0 lead.
 
Luke Gregory followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0, while Henry Jamieson followed with another double, one of four in game two for UR, scoring Stezzi to extend UR's lead to 3-0.
 
Bevan made quick work of the Golden Knights in the bottom of the inning, while Clarkson made a pitching change in the top of the fifth. Nicholas Hofacker relieved Lewis to start the fifth and worked around a two-out single by Leadem, stranding the senior to keep UR's lead at just three.
 
Clarkson then threatened for the first time against Bevan in the bottom of the fifth, putting a runner in scoring position on Cartier's two-out single and a four-pitch walk, but Bevan struck out another Golden Knight, this time getting Beau Vardion looking to strand a pair.
 
Bevan kept things rolling into the sixth, working around another walk to keep Clarkson scoreless, while UR would add insurance runs in each of the next two frames. Reed led off the top of the seventh and reached on an error, took third on Besztery's sacrifice bunt and scored on Ellison's RBI single to extend Rochester's lead to 4-0.
 
And after Bevan worked another 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the seventh, Stezzi led off the top of the eighth with his second double of the night, took third on Gregory's sacrifice and scored on Blozy's squeeze to make it a 5-0 Rochester advantage.
 
Clarkson finally got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the eighth, stretching out three-straight hits against Bevan to score a pair, but with one-on and two-outs, the senior got Quinn Maslowski to flyout to prevent any more damage and send UR to the plate in the top of the ninth.
 
Rochester then looked to add a few more insurance runs, loading the bases for Gregory, but the senior just missed a grand slam, with his flyout falling just a few feet short of breaking the game open in the top of the ninth.
 
Mark Aaronson then relieved Bevan to finish things off, and while Cartier beat out an infield single, Aaronson struck out a pair to nail down the save and give the Yellowjackets a 5-2 victory.
 
Bevan (1-2) earned the win, allowing two runs on six hits, walking two and striking out five over 8.0 innings pitched, while Aaronson (1) picked up the save, striking out two over an inning of work.
 
Lewis (1-2) took the loss for Clarkson, allowing three runs on six hits over 4.0 innings pitched.
 
Stezzi led Rochester at the plate, going 3-for-3 with two doubles, two walks, two runs scored and an RBI, while Leadem went 2-for-5 with a run scored.
 
Rochester will look for the sweep on Sunday, April 7 when they wrap up the three-game series against the Golden Knights at 11:00 a.m. at Monroe Community College.