Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (April 5, 2014) – The Vassar College baseball team posted six runs in the decisive sixth inning in game one of a Liberty League doubleheader with Clarkson University Saturday, rallying to earn a 7-5 win in the opener. The Golden Knights would responded with a 13-9 win in game two to salvage a split Saturday in action from Prentiss Field on the campus of Vassar College. The games were originally scheduled to be played in Potsdam, but the weather forced the move south.

Game 1: Vassar 7, Clarkson 5: W, Erkis (2-0) – L, Mattingly (2-1) – S, Cucalon (1)
The Vassar College baseball team trailed by four runs going into the bottom of the sixth in the first game of Saturday's twinbill, but scored six times to come-from-behind to earn the win over Clarkson.

The Golden Knights (6-6, 2-1 Liberty) opened the scoring in the top of the third, getting an unearned run to take a 1-0 lead. Vassar College tied the game in the bottom of the third, as Brett Zaziski (Randolph, NJ/Randolph) doubled to left field and was scored a batter later thanks to a RBI single from Nick Johnson (San Francisco, CA/St. Ignatius).

Clarkson regained the lead with a single unearned run in the top of the fifth, and would take a four-run lead in the next frame with three more unearned tallies to make the score 5-1 going into the bottom half of the sixth. That's when the Brewers would make their move, as VC posted six runs on five hits to take the lead.

In the frame, Zaziski doubled to start the stanza, and Johnson again scored him with a single on the next at-bat. Sophomore Brooks English (Milton, MA/Milton Academy) followed with a single, and Johnson came around on a sacrifice fly from Cory Wuenschell (Pittsburgh, PA/Mt. Lebanon). The big blow came two batters later, as Jason Garfinkel (Encino, CA/Harvard-Westlake) doubled in a pair to even the score at five.

Garfinkel would come around to score the eventual game-winning run on a wild pitch, and back-to-back free passes also forced in a run to finish the frame. Sophomore Connor Cucalon (San Francisco, CA/St. Ignatius) earned the save, allowing two hits but getting out of a jam in the seventh.

The Vassar 3-4-5 of the lineup went 6-for-8 in the game, as Zaziski finished 2-for-2 with three RBI and a walk. Johnson drove in three and walked twice, while English had a pair of knocks. Freshman starter Adam Erkis (Villanova, PA/Radnor) was stellar, allowing no earned runs and six hits while fanning five in earning the win.

Game 1: Clarkson 13, Vassar 9: W, Miller (2-0) – L, Hong (1-2)
The Brewers committed six errors in the nightcap with Clarkson, which produced eight unearned scores in helping the Golden Knights to the win in game two. CU took the lead in the top of the first with three runs, but Vassar trimmed the deficit to two with a single tally in bottom of the second.

The Golden Knights added two more in the third, but Vassar came back in the bottom half with three of its own, highlighted by a two-run double from Johnson. Clarkson pushed its lead back up to a pair in the fourth, and blew the game open with six runs in the sixth inning.

Showing their resilience, the Brewers refused to go away, chipping away slowly at the CU lead. Zaziski doubled in a pair in the sixth, and Dave Robbins (Rumson, NJ/Rumson Fair-Haven) plated a run in the seventh on a RBI groundout to make the score 12-7. In the eighth, Zaziski hammered a 1-0 pitch well over the right field wall for his third homer of the season, tying the school record for homers in a career with eight to make the score 12-8. Later in the inning, Wuenschell drove in another run to make it a three-run game.

After CU posted a run in the top of the ninth, Vassar loaded the bases with one out on three straight singles with Zaziski coming to bat. On a 1-2 pitch, Zaziski appeared to foul a pitch directly back, but the umpires ruled he had missed the pitch and the strikeout was upheld after a lengthy discussion. Johnson would fly out the end the game on the game's next pitch.

Zaziski was 3-for-6 with four RBI in game two, while Johnson had four hits, two RBI and two runs scored. Zaziski upped his hit streak to 11 and his reached base safely stretch to 32 straight games. Junior Kyle Casey (San Diego, CA/Vista) and Robbins each had two singles in game two, and freshman Brad Kendall (Redlands, CA/Redlands) had his first multi-hit game as a Brewer, tallying three hits and two runs scored.

Sophomore Jonathan Hong (Orinda, CA/Miramonte) gave up four earned runs over six innings, while freshman Mike Koscielniak (Crystal Lake, IL/Marian Central Catholic) tossed a scoreless frame in relief. Zaziski also pitched a pair of innings, striking out two hitters while allowing no hits and giving up no earned tallies.

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The Brewers and Golden Knights conclude their four-game set tomorrow on Prentiss Field, with first pitch set for noon with Vassar College serving as the visitors Sunday.