ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, NY – The University of Rochester baseball team used all facets of the game to earn a key doubleheader sweep on the road at Bard College Saturday afternoon.
In game one, the Yellowjackets rode a strong pitching performance to the 4-2 victory, while the nightcap saw UR use its bats and speed on offense to earn a 15-11 win.
Rochester moves to 9-11 overall on the season and remains in second place in the Liberty League standings with a 9-3 mark in conference. Bard meanwhile, drops to 12-15 and 5-8 in the Liberty League.
GAME 1:
Will Conroy tossed a complete game on the mound in the opener and got just enough run support for the win, his second the of the season. The senior finished by allowing five hits, two runs and one walk while striking out a season-high seven.
All of the offense in the opener came late, with both teams scoring in two of the last three innings.
Aiden Finch singled in the top of the fifth, driving home Steve Pickering, who reached on an error, for a 1-0 Rochester lead.
The Raptors would get that run back in the sixth when Matt Lasky tripled to right, plating Jordan Myers.
In the seventh, UR scored three times, building a 4-1 advantage. After a Pickering walk and David Rieth single, Finch laced a double to right to score a run. Jack Herman followed with an RBI single through the left side and Drew Bankovich drove in the last run of the inning when he reached on an infield hit.
Bard's seventh inning didn't go smoothly for Conroy, but he got the job done. After two singles to quickly bring the tying run to the plate, the UR hurler got a strikeout, RBI groundout and another whiff to seal the game on victory.
Finch ended 2-4 with a double, run and two RBI while Bankovich and Rieth were also 2-4 at the plate.
GAME 2:
Game two was a slugfest throughout, with only four half innings out of the 18 played not generating at least one run.
Sophomore Aaron Craig was the hero batting out of the nine spot, going 4-5 with two runs and six RBI, tying for fourth most RBI in a single-game in UR history. Finch had another strong game, going 3-3 with a double, two runs and three walks.
Drew Bankovich was 3-4 with two runs and two RBI while Pickering had three hits, including a double and two runs scored. Rieth and McNabb also drew three walks in the game and UR as a team had 13 free passes.
Rochester was able to jump out to a big lead in the top of the first, sending 10 men to the plate, scoring five runs. Finch had an RBI double, Tyler Schmidt ripped a 2-run double to right, Bankovich added a sacrifice fly and Craig drove in his first run of the day.
The teams then traded runs in the bottom of the first and top of the second, with Bankovich providing UR's run.
The Yellowjackets made it 8-1 after two and a half innings, scoring two more in the third. Craig singled to left, driving in McNabb and Herman followed suit with an RBI base hit up the middle.
Bard cut the lead in half, scoring three times in the bottom of the frame on two singles and a bases loaded walk.
That ended the day of UR's game two starter Kevin Ho. The junior tossed three innings, allowed seven hits, four runs and two walks while fanning three.
Both teams would score single runs in two of the next three innings and after six it was 10-6 in favor of Rochester.
In the seventh, Bard capitalized on a UR error and scored three runs to cut the lead to one at 10-9.
UR reclaimed the four-run lead quickly though, answering with three runs in the top of the eighth, utilizing its speed and getting some timely hitting.
Bankovich led off with a bunt single, which was followed by a Kyle Trombley bunt single. McNabb nearly made it three straight bunt hits, but was nipped at first on a sacrifice. Craig then singled in Bankovich and moved to second on the throw and was driven in by a Pickering single to center. Pickering then stole second and third and scampered home on a passed ball to make it 13-9 Yellowjackets.
Reliever Owen Gabbey then set down the Raptors in order in the bottom of the inning, needing only nine pitches.
Rochester was able to tack on two more insurance runs, coming on a Craig single to right center in the top of the ninth to lead 15-9.
Gabbey nearly made quick work of the ninth inning as well, pitching around a leadoff single, but a throwing error with two outs extended the inning. After the error, Chris Blake doubled to right, scoring two runs to make it 15-11.
The next two batters were then hit by a pitch and walked, loading the bases and bringing the tying run to the plate. Fortunately for the Yellowjackets, the next batter flew out to center for the final out.
Gabbey picked up his first save of the season, while Nathan Slenska earned the win. Slenska tossed two innings with four strikeouts and one earned run allowed. Gabbey threw 2.1 innings and allowed two runs, none earned with two strikeouts.
Rochester and Bard will play another doubleheader on Sunday, with UR batting as the home team. First pitch is slated for noon.