The University of Rochester baseball team posted two huge comeback victories over St. Lawrence University on Saturday afternoon at Towers Field, rallying from as many as five runs down in each game of a doubleheader.
Rochester (4-8, 4-2 Liberty League), edged out the Saints by a 7-6 score in game one, and then won the night cap in a 16-13 slugfest. In both games, St. Lawrence (2-12, 1-5 Liberty League) had the tying runs on base or up to bat in the when the final out was made.
Corey Ziring was the hero in game one for UR, going 2-2 with a triple, four RBI and a run scored while starter Luke Meyerson gutted out 5.2 innings for the win.
Senior utility player Owen Gabbey was the star of game two, tossing four hitless innings of relief in his first career pitching appearance. His outing allowed UR to go from down 10-5 to up 16-10 in four innings.
Offensively in game two, the top of the lineup shined, with each of the first five hitters recording multi-hit games. Aiden Finch was 3-4 with two triples, four RBI and two runs, while Jack Herman went 3-5 with two extra base hits, four RBI and two runs. Steve Pickering also went 3-5.
In the opening game, St. Lawrence struck with four runs in the top of the third inning, jumping out to the early lead on a two-run single by Brendon Frank, a sac fly from Evan O'Keeffe and an RBI triple from Anthony Butler. SLU then made it 5-0 in the top of the fourth, scoring on a failed pickoff attempt at second that got sent into the outfield.
Rochester rallied big, getting within one in the bottom of the fourth. Three runs came on a bases-clearing triple from Ziring, with the fourth coming on an RBI single by Tyler Schmidt.
After Meyerson threw up a zero in a 1-2-3 top of the fifth, the Yellowjackets then were able to grab the lead in the bottom of the frame off the Saints bullpen. Finch led off getting hit by a pitch. Herman singled up the middle and both runners moved up on a sacrifice by Drew Bankovich. Bankovich ended game one 2-2 with a run scored.
Kyle Trombley then reached on a fielders choice to short where the throw home attempting to get the runner sailed wide of its target. Aaron Craig then lined a double and Ziring provided a sacrifice fly to put the Yellowjackets up 7-5 with two innings left.
Meyerson got the first two runners out in the sixth, but then allowed the tying runners on, sending UR into its bullpen. Brendan Shamieh then retired the go-ahead batter on his first pitch to end the inning.
In St. Lawrence's last at-bats, Shamieh struck out the leadoff hitter, but then allowed a triple and double back-to-back to make the score 7-6 with the tying run on base, forcing another UR pitching chance.
Senior Will Conroy then came in for the save and after walking his first batter, induced a groundout and earned a strikeout to seal the UR victory.
Game two was a slugfest from the start. SLU scored twice in the first, with UR adding a single run in the bottom of the inning on a Schmidt solo home run.
Both teams then plated four runs in the third inning. Butler had a big two-run triple for the Saints which was followed by a James Cronin squeeze play. For UR, Finch laced an RBI triple down the right field line with Herman following that with an RBI single. Two more runs would score on a fielders choice off the bat of Craig.
The Saints then batted around in the fourth, scoring four more times to build a 10-5 lead with the help of three Yellowjacket fielding errors.
In the fifth, Gabbey took the mound for the first time in his career and promptly set SLU down 1-2-3 on seven pitches, sparking the Yellowjackets.
Rochester then sent 10 batters to the plate in the bottom of the inning, scoring five runs to tie the score. Two infield singles and walk loaded the bases for Craig who ripped a hard grounder to short which was misplayed allowing a run to score. After a strikeout, Schmidt and Pickering each drew bases loaded walks to bring in runs. Finch followed with an RBI single and Herman flew out to right, allowing the tying run to score.
Gabbey then kept rolling on the hill for UR, setting down the next six Saints he faced in order.
His teammates then gave him the lead in the bottom of the seventh. Schmidt and Pickering each led off with infield singles. Herman tripled them both in, with David Rieth following that with an RBI single to left, passed a drawn in Saints infield, making the score 13-10 in favor of UR.
After another zero put up by Gabbey, Rochester expanded its lead in the eighth with three more runs. Those came when Finch tripled to right center, plating Craig and Schmidt, and then scored on the same play when the Saints missed hitting the cutoff man.
St. Lawrence fought until the end though, tagging Gabbey's reliever Hank Powers for three runs to lead off the ninth. Isaac Lewis led off with a single and was doubled to third by Frank. O'Keeffe walked loading the bases and Butler drew another walk scoring the first run of the inning.
Tyler McConway then came in for UR on the mound. He got an RBI groundout, but then surrendered an Evan Reichel RBI single making it 16-13 with the tying run now at bat. The junior righty then struck out back-to-back Saints to earn the save.
The weekend series continues on Sunday with the same two teams scheduled to play another doubleheader starting at noon.