Saints Take Three of Four from Vassar

April 11: Sophomore pitcher Chris Cook won his fourth game of the season for St. Lawrence in game one of a Liberty League doubleheader with Vassar on Saturday, but the Brewers bounced back to win game two 5-4, earning a split and avoiding a Saint sweep of the four game series.

Vassar, 4-15 overall and 3-10 in the Liberty League took a 5-3 lead in the bottom of the seventh inning and held off a Saint rally in the top of the ninth in the second game win. The Saints, 10-14 overall and 6-10 in league play won game one 8-5.

Cook allowed only one earned run in game one, striking out three and picked up his third straight win. Rookie Kyle Donaldson came on to get the final out in the bottom of the seventh and earned his first collegiate save.

The Saints snapped a 1-1 tie with a six-run top of the sixth inning. Bryan Brennan led it off with a single and a steal of second and then was sacrificed to third by Sam Kelly. Ryan Duff drew a walk and Sean Voss doubled to left, scoring Brennan and moving Duff to third. Kirt Broedel then singled in Duff and Voss scored on Garrett Fitzgerald's ground ball as the throw home was bobbled at the plate. Taylor Engle then walked to load the bases and Chris Donaldson delivered a two-run single to center. Kirk Shimkin finished the scoring with a run-scoring double as the Saints went up 7-1.

Vassar got two back in the bottom of the sixth, one on David Ringold's homer off the top of the fence in left and the second on Adam Murphy's run-scoring single, but the Saints went up 8-3 with a run in the top of the seventh. Duff led off with a single, went to second on an error and stole third, scoring on Fitzgerald's sacrifice fly. The Brewers threatened again in the bottom of the seventh, scoring twice as Ringold reached on an error to drive in one run and Murphy drew a bases loaded walk for the other before Donaldson came in to get the final out on a ground out.

SLU scored its first run in the top of the first on doubles by Brennan and Voss and Vassar tied it in the bottom of the fourth on an outfield error and Sal Costanzo's double.

Brennan and Voss each had two hits for the Saints in game one while Costanzo and Murphy had two hits each for Vassar.

In game two, the Saints took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second on Tyler Engle's single and a run-scoring ground out by Ryan Fedo. Vassar came back to tie as Devon Luongo led off the bottom of the second with a home run off Saint starter Zach Slater.

SLU took a 2-1 lead in the top of the third when Ryan Duff was hit by a pitch and eventually scored on an error, but again Vassar came right back, taking a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the inning as Luongo hit a two-run single. The Saints tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the seventh on a single by Fedo and Duff's run-scoring single, but Vassar went back in front with two in the bottom of the second off Saint reliever Matt Landers. Joe Castilla singled in one run and Luongo singled home the eventual winning run, his fourth run batted in of the game.

The Saints threatened against Vassar reliever Zach Prudoff in the top of the ninth as they loaded the bases with two out and scored one run when pinch hitter Tim Harris was hit by a pitch, but Prudoff got a strikeout to end the game.

Duff was three for four and Brennan had a pair of hits for the Saints in game two while Ari Glantz and Luongo each went three for four for the Brewers.

 

 

SAINTS SWEEP VASSAR IN LIBERTY LEAGUE DOUBLEHEADER

April 10: Tim Harris tripled in the tying run in the bottom of the seventh and scored the go-ahead run and St. Lawrence University's baseball team tacked on six runs in the bottom of the eighth for a 13-8 win over Vassar and a sweep of a Liberty League doubleheader at Tom Fay Field on Friday afternoon.

The Saints scored nine runs in the bottom of the first inning in game one and went on to a 12-7 win over the Brewers. St. Lawrence improved to 9-13 overall and 5-9 in the Liberty League while Vassar is 3-14 overall and 2-9 in league play going into a second doubleheader against the Saints on Saturday.

Harris was three for five and scored three times and shortstop Bryan Brennan also went three for five with three runs scored. Ryan Duff was two for four with two runs driven in as the top three in the Saint lineup combined for eight hits, eight runs scored and five driven in in game two. Chris Donaldson added a two-run homer as part of a sixth run bottom of the eighth. Ari Glantz and Sal Costanzo had three hits each for the Brewers in game two.

Vassar jumped out to a 6-1 lead in game two through the top of three, but the Saints battled back into it with a four-run bottom of the third. Harris singled in one run, Brennan scored on a double steal, Garrett Fitzgerald hit a sacrifice fly and Duff scored on an error to get the Saints back into it.

Neither team scored again until Brennan singled and stole second to lead off the bottom of the seventh and Harris ripped a triple to drive him home. Duff then hit a sacrifice fly to plate Harris and put the Saints up 7-6. Donaldson hit his two-run homer with one out in the bottom of the eighth, Bob Carman doubled, scoring on Brennan's double and Harris doubled with Brennan stopping at third. Duff then singled to drive in Brennan, Fitzgerald hit a sacrifice fly to score Harris and Kirt Broedel doubled home Duff.

Sean Voss earned the victory for the Saints, going seven innings and allowing four earned runs while Matt Landers earned a save with two innings of relief. Daniel Berkowitz took the loss for Vassar. The Saints turned a double play to get out of a jam in the top of the seventh.

Vassar grabbed a 2-0 lead in the top of the first in game one on run scoring singles by Costanzo and David Ringold, but the Saints sent 15 batters to the plate in the bottom of the inning and took a 9-2 lead. Garrett Fitzgerald had a two-run single and Brennan had a two-run double as part of the big inning.

Brennan was two for three with three runs driven in, Taylor Engle went two for three and scored twice and Duff and Fitzgerald each drove in three in the opening game win. Joe Castilla was three for four and Costanzo had two hits and drove in three runs for the Brewers. Zack Miller added a homer for Vassar.

Vassar closed to within 9-5 with two in the top of the fourth, but the Saints scored three in the bottom of the fifth to pad the lead. Brennan hit a run-scoring single, Duff hit a sacrifice fly and Fitzgerald had a run-scoring ground out in the fifth.

Steve Bodnar went five inning for the win for the Saints with Pat Considine pitching the sixth and seventh while starter Scott Allen took the loss for Vassar.