The St. Lawrence baseball team saw five-run leads slip away in both games of a Liberty League doubleheader with the University of Rochester on Saturday afternoon, as the Saints were swept by the Yellowjackets with a 7-6 loss in game one and 16-13 loss in the nightcap.

St. Lawrence led 5-0 through three and a half innings in game one before allowing a combined seven runs in the bottom of the fourth and fifth frames to give Rochester the lead. A late comeback bid in the top of the seventh fell short for the Saints.

The Saints also had a five-run lead in game two, as they went up 10-5 in the top of the fourth. Rochester scored five in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game and then took a 16-10 lead with the help of three runs in both the seventh and eighth. St. Lawrence once again made a run at a comeback with three runs in its final at-bats, but again fell short.

Brendon Frank led the Saints at the plate with a combined 6-for-9 (.667) performance with five runs scored and four RBI. Frank and Evan O'Keeffe each had two RBI in the first game, while Anthony Butler had a game-high four RBI in game two alone.

Game One –

After two scoreless innings, the Saints took a 4-0 lead with four runs on four hits in the top of the third.

With one out, St. Lawrence loaded the bases with a walk to Tyler Guido and back-to-back singles up the middle by Taylor Digilio and Isaac Lewis. Frank drove in the first runs of the game with a two-RBI singles to right field and O'Keeffe followed with a sacrifice fly to center that plate Lewis for a 3-0 lead. Butler rounded out the scoring in the frame with an RBI triple that brought in the Saints' fourth run.

Beau Yaremko then scored an unearned run in the top of the fourth on a throwing error by the Rochester centerfielder to push the lead to 5-0.

The Yellowjackets broke the shutout for rookie starter Patrick Greenan with four runs on four hits, including a three-RBI triple by Corey Ziring, in the bottom of the fourth to cut the deficit to 5-4.

Rochester then took a 7-5 lead with three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, all of which were unearned.

The Saints got one back in the top of the seventh with an RBI double to left center by O'Keeffe, but stranded the tying and potential winning run on base to end the game.

Greenan pitched four innings for St. Lawrence and left the game with the Saints still in front 5-4. He allowed four runs on seven hits with two strikeouts. Reliever Will Fellows, who took the loss, pitched two thirds of an inning and have up three runs on two hits. Anthony Ferraro pitched the final inning and a third for the Saints.

Luker Meyerson got the win in game one or Rochester.

Game Two –

The nightcap was a hit parade, with both teams finishing with the same number of hits as runs scored. The top four batters in the Saints' lineup in Digilio, Lewis, Frank and O'Keeffe, each recorded multi-hit games.

St. Lawrence led 2-1 at the end of the first inning and both teams put up four runs apiece in their halves of the third to make it 6-5 in favor of the Saints.

In the top of the fourth, Guido started a four-run, one-out rally when he reached on a fielding error by the Rochester first baseman and then scored on a double down the right field line by Digilio in the next at bat. Lewis then followed with an RBI single to left for an 8-5 St. Lawrence lead.

After consecutive singles from Frank and O'Keeffe put two men on, Frank stole third and then scored on a throwing error, allowing O'Keeffe to move into scoring position. He later came in to score on another defensive miscue by the Yellowjackets for the Saints' 10^th run and a 10-5 advantage.

That lead would only last until the bottom of the fifth, when Rochester put up a five spot to tie the game on three hits, three walks and an error. Starter Caleb Clarke faced six batters in the fifth inning before he was relieved by Ferraro.
Rochester took a 13-10 lead in the bottom of the seventh before adding three more in the bottom of the eighth to push the margin to 16-10.

In the top of the ninth for St. Lawrence with the bases loaded and no one out, Anthony Butler worked an eight-pitch walk to pick up his fourth RBI of the game and bring Lewis in to score.

With the bases still loaded, James Cronin hit an RBI groundout to second base for the Saints' second run of the inning to cut the deficit to 16-12.

Evan Reichel drove in the final run of the game on an RBI single down the left field line that scored O'Keeffe for the final 16-13 margin. The Saints finished the game with back-to-back strikeouts that left two runners on base.

Reliever Beau Yaremko took the loss for St. Lawrence, as he gave up six runs on six hits in two innings of work. Clarke went four and a third for the Saints in the start, allowing 10 runs on eight hits. Ferraro and Louis LaCivita also pitched in the game for St. Lawrence.

Records – St. Lawrence (2-12, 1-5 LL), Rochester (4-8, 4-2 LL)

Up Next –
The Saints will return to Rochester for the final two games of their four-game conference set with the Yellowjackets on Sunday afternoon.