Caleb Clarke was stellar on the mound for the St. Lawrence baseball team on Sunday, striking out five in a complete-game effort to lead the Saints to a 2-1 win over the University of Rochester in the opening game of a Liberty League doubleheader on Tom Fay Field.

Rochester stormed back from a 4-1 deficit in game two en route to an 8-4 win over the Saints to split Sunday's contests and give the Yellowjackets a 3-1 win in the season series.

Anthony Ferraro hit his first career home run – a three-run shot to right – to lead St. Lawrence in game two, while Joe DeGuardia and Cristian Forgione each finished with multi-hit games on the day.

While both teams recorded just five hits in opener, Rochester got back into the swing of things at the plate in the nightcap and outhit St. Lawrence 17-5 in the win.

Game 1 – St. Lawrence 2, Rochester 1
After two scoreless innings, St. Lawrence took a 2-0 lead in the top of the third on just two hits, with the help of a throwing error by Rochester catcher David Rieth that allowed William Montgomery to score the Saints first run of the inning.

Montgomery worked a walk to lead things off and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Brian Comerford before a single to right field by senior Taylor Digilio put runners on the corners. In the first pitch of the next at bat, Digilio broke for second and Rieth's attempt to catch him stealing sailed into center field, allowing Montgomery to score easily for a 1-0 St. Lawrence lead.

With two outs, Evan O'Keefe hit an RBI single to left center to bring in Digilio for the Saints' second and final run of the game.

Rochester's Jake Hertz led off the bottom of the frame with a walk and later scored on a two-out double to left by Kyle Trombley to cut the deficit to 2-1.

Clarke stranded a combined six Rochester runners through the next four innings, including two in the bottom of the seventh, as he got Jacob Matzat to ground out to Forgione at third to end the game.

The win is the first of the season for the Bethel, Maine native and is also the first complete game of his career.



Game 2 – Rochester 8, St. Lawrence 4
St. Lawrence pulled in front early in the nightcap, with four runs on just two hits in the top of the second inning, but Rochester countered with a four-run inning of its own in the bottom of the sixth to take the lead for good.

Anthony Butler reached on a fielding error by Rochester's catcher after he mishandled a routine pop-up between home plate and the mound in the Saints' first at-bat of the inning. The senior captain then stole second and advanced to third with a wild pitch on ball four of a walk to Andrew Circelli, putting runners on the corners with no outs.

Joe DeGuardia tied the game at 1-1 with a sac fly to center that brought Butler in to score before Anthony Ferraro lofted a three-run shot over the fence in right field to put St. Lawrence in front 4-1.

Rochester added a run in the third and another in the fifth to pull within a run, 4-3.

St. Lawrence made a pair of brilliant defensive plays in the middle innings to keep them in front, as Ferraro, O'Keeffe and Anthony Butler combined to throw out Aiden Finch at home after a single to center and Nicholas Butler threw out Hertz at third with an impressive throw from deep right field.

In the sixth inning, however, the Yellowjackets tacked on four more with the help of six hits, including RBI doubles from Rieth and Matzat. Another run in the seventh pushed the margin to 8-4.

Starter Cameron Morrissey threw 5.1 innings for the Saints, allowing four runs on 11 hits with a pair of strikeouts. Reliever Louis LaCivita took the loss with three runs allowed in a third of an inning. Ryan Carson and Kalani Zehr also made relieve appearances in game two.

Rochester's Dan Agate earned the win in relief, while Tyler McConway picked up a save after retiring all seven batters he faced in the final 2.1 innings.

Records – St. Lawrence (5-17, 3-9 LL); Rochester (15-13, 9-7 LL)
Up Next – at SUNY Canton on Tuesday, April 16 at 4 p.m.