In a wild day of baseball both the Saints (6-0 lead) and Brewers (9-0 lead) each took huge leads in the first and second game respectively, but both teams refused to quit as the St. Lawrence University baseball team took game one in 11 innings 9-8 and came back from a 10-3 deficit in the top of the seventh in game two in Poughkeepsie on Saturday.
Game two of the doubleheader was suspended after the top of the seventh due to darkness. The game which is tied at 10-10 going into the bottom of the seventh, will be finished before game three of the series tomorrow at 11:30 a.m.
The Scarlet and Brown improved to 8-3 with the win in game one and are now 1-0 in Liberty League action. Vassar fell to 5-8 following the game one loss and are 0-1 in conference action.
Nicholas Butler had a team-high five RBI on the day with four coming in the top of the seventh in game two when the senior blasted a grand slam over the left field wall to knot the game up at 10-10 and complete the comeback.
Jake Delaney was tremendous in game one delivering three hits and three RBI in the win.
Michael Hutchins earned his second win of the year in game one of the twin bill pitching the last three innings and giving up just one run. Â
First-years
Brenden O'Neil and
John Igoe settled things down on the mound after the nine run third inning in game two giving up one run and just two hits between the two of them.
Huck Haun pitched the sixth inning giving up one hit
"We played with a ton of heart today," said head coach
Kenny Collins "It takes a special group to feel like you're in every game, no matter what the score is. We need to execute better tomorrow and win a series. Vassar is a really tough opponent with a great lineup and we will need to earn the wins."
Game 1: St. Lawrence 9, Vassar 8
In game one of the Saints' Liberty League opener, the bats were alive early as the Scarlet and Brown raced out to an early lead. Butler got on base with two outs in the top of the first, but didn't stay there long as
Andrew Circelli blasted his fourth home run of the year out to left field to give the Saints the early 2-0 lead.
The game stayed 2-0 until the top of the third where St. Lawrence extended the lead to 5-0.
Chris Watson walked to open the half-inning, then was followed on base by Circelli and
Michael Goretti to load the bases. Delaney placed a perfect bunt that rolled the turnstiles and scored Watson.
Drew Courtwright drove in Circelli next with a sacrifice fly to left field, before
Cristian Forgione ripped a single to score Goretti and extend the lead to five.
In the next inning, Butler made it a 6-0 game with a sacrifice fly that scored
Brian Comerford, who earned his way onboard with a walk, stole second, and was pushed to thirds by C. Watson.
Vassar began to mount a comeback in the bottom of the fifth as Sam Brinster and Adam Talwalkar drove in runs. Then in the bottom of the sixth the Brewers posted two more runs to narrow the Saints lead to 6-4.
Delaney earned his second RBI of the game with a single in the top of the seventh, which became important as Vassar would score three runs in the bottom of the ninth to knot the game at 7-7.
The game went to extra innings where both teams failed to score in the tenth inning.
Michael Hutchins did well to shut down the Brewers forcing three groundouts to the middle infielders.
The Scarlet and Brown got back to work in the top of the 11th scoring two runs. With two outs and Comerford on second base, the Brewers decided to wisely intentionally walk Circelli. Goretti made Vassar pay with a single to right center field that scored Comerford and pushed Circelli into scoring position. Delaney was next and delivered his third hit and RBI to score Circelli and give the team the 9-7 lead.
Jaden Millstein homered in the bottom of the 11
th to bring the game within one run, but the Saints slammed the door with a ground out and fly out to seal the win.
Andrew Matthews, who started on the bump for St. Lawrence pitched five innings giving up two runs and struck out three.
Liam Reiner pitched one inning and
Samuel Fosberg pitched two innings in relief of Matthews. Hutchins earned his second win of the year in game one of the twin bill pitching three innings and giving up just one run. Â
Game 2: St. Lawrence 10, Vassar 10 (through 6 ½ innings)
As the weather in Poughkeepsie cooled off, so too did the bats of both teams, who failed to score in the first two and a half innings.
That was until the bottom of the third when the Brewers exploded for nine runs. The inning started with a leadoff triple from Millstein and a walk, then snowballed into a crooked number. Vassar scored five runs before the Saints could produce the second out of the inning, then gave up three after it as Millstein, who tripled to start the barrage launched a three-run homer to cap off the inning.
The Saints loaded up the bases in the next half-inning after Forgione reached on a wild pitch after striking out.
Sean Desjardins earned a walk to bring a run home, but with two outs down in the inning a pop out to short ended the threat.
The game was brought to 10-1 in the bottom of the inning as Vassar drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to center field.
The Scarlet and Brown got two more runs in the top of the sixth with two outs. The bases were loaded once again as
Jimmy Liberatore and Forgione earned passes to the base paths with a hit by pitch and a walk respectively then were both advanced on a wild pitch.
Caleb Clark also earned his way aboard with a walk to load the bags.
Brett Federico was able to walk a run home in the next at-bat, then a wild pitch scored Forgione to make it 10-3 before the inning was closed on a long fly out to right field.
St. Lawrence refused to say die despite being down 10-3 coming all the way back to tie the game in the top of the seventh with their collective backs against the wall.
Circelli started the inning with a walk prompting a pitching change from the Brewers. The change did not work as Delaney dumped a double into left field to put runners on second and third.
Stephen Colangelo drove Circelli in with a sacrifice fly for the first out of the inning, then Liberatore blasted a double of his own to cut the lead to five.
Desjardins cut the lead to four with a fielder's choice, but things were looking bleak with two outs. Clark singled in the next at-bat to keep the game alive, then an error by Vassar's third baseman, who had a chance at a force out, loaded the bases for the big bat of Butler. Butler knocked the lights out in Poughkeepsie with a moonshot grand slam to left field tying the game at 10-10.
Following the third out of the half-inning, play was suspended due to darkness and the it was decided the game will restart tomorrow.
First-years O'Neil and Igoe settled things down on the mound after the nine run third inning in game two giving up one run and just two hits between the two of them. Haun pitched the sixth inning giving up one hit.
Next Up:
St. Lawrence and Vassar will wrap up game two tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. before playing their final game of the series following the conclusion of game two.
Â
