Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY (April 15, 2015) – The Vassar College baseball picked up the first game of a Liberty League doubleheader with Skidmore College 8-6, but was unable to chalk up the sweep, falling 8-5 in the nightcap in action from Castle Diamond Wednesday afternoon.

Vassar 8, Skidmore 6
The Brewers got three hits from freshman Bobby Kinne (Great Barrington, MA/Monument Mountain Regional) and pounded out 13 hits in knocking off Skidmore in seven innings. Vassar College jumped out early, getting an RBI groundout by Nick Johnson (San Francisco, CA/St. Ignatius Prep) to score Denis Shanagher (San Francisco, CA/St. Ignatius Prep).

Skidmore took its first lead of the game in the bottom of the third inning, plating four runs. Mike LaVita doubled in two runs during the frame, scoring on a Jeb Clarke double. The other tally of the inning came on an RBI single by Matt Barra.

Vassar wasted no time getting right back into the game, evening the score line with three runs in the top of the fourth inning. Johnson started the rally with one out, as he connected on Vassar's first homer of the season, a shot to left-center on the first pitch of the at-bat. Kinne singled on the next at-bat, and came around to score on a RBI single by Dakota Sagnelli (Rumson, NJ/Rumson-Fair Haven). Sagnelli would eventually dead lock the score at four, as he crossed the plate on a wild pick.

One inning later, Vassar again plated three runs, as Kinne drove in a run with a single and junior Cory Wuenschell (Pittsburgh, PA/Mt. Lebanon) singled in Kinne and Johnson. Sophomore Adam Erkis (Villanova, PA/Radnor) retired the side in order in the fifth, and Sagnelli led off the top of the sixth with a towering homer run down the left field line to put VC up 8-4.

Skidmore battled back with one run in the top of the sixth inning, and pulled to within two in the seventh inning, but Shanagher came on to record his first career save in clinching the win for Vassar. Eight of nine Brewer starters had a hit, led by the three from Kinne and two each by three others. Brooks English (Milton, MA/Milton Academy) was 2-for-3 with a walk and a run scored, while Johnson had two runs, two RBI and two hits.

Sagnelli finished the day with two runs and two RBI as well for Vassar, and freshman Eric Strickland (Round Rock, TX/Round Rock) went 1-for-4 with his second double of the year. Erkis earned his first win of the year, going six innings while surrendering seven hits and five runs.

Skidmore 8, Vassar 5
In the second game of the day, a big six-run fourth inning was all the Thoroughbreds needed in salvaging a split for the day. The Brewers for the second time in as many games Wednesday earned the game's first run, as Johnson led off the second inning with a double and was pushed across on a RBI single by Kinne.

The Brewers made their lead three runs in the top of the third, and once it again was the standout freshman delivering, as Kinne doubled in both English and Johnson to take a 3-0 advantage. Skidmore answered with two in the bottom of the third, both coming on a two-run single by Matt Barra.

The Thoroughbreds (7-13, 1-9 Liberty League) in the bottom of the fourth would take the lead for good, scoring six runs with only three earned, to take an 8-3 edge. Vassar scored two runs in the top of the fifth, as Kinne and Wuenschell had RBI hits, but that was as close as the Brewers got in dropping the second end of the league double dip.

Kinne had another fantastic game, as he was 3-for-4 with four RBI, while Johnson was 3-for-3 with three runs scored, getting walked intentionally once. English was 2-for-4, doubling once, and Wuenschell doubled as well for the Brewers. Freshman Matt Hernandez (Corona, CA/Eleanor Roosevelt) pitched a perfect sixth inning as well for VC.

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The Brewers (4-12, 3-11 Liberty League) return home Saturday and Sunday to play their first games of the season on Prentiss Field, hosting the University of Rochester for a pair of Liberty League doubleheaders.