POTSDAM, N.Y. - The Bard College baseball team lost to Clarkson University twice on Saturday, 8-5 in the first game, 5-4 in the second game, to start a four-game Liberty League series on Friday.
The Raptors were cruising along and looking good in Game 1, but it came apart in Clarkson's final two at-bats. Sophomore starter
Evan Richardson entered the fifth inning with a no-hitter. A two-run single by
Matt Lasky keyed a three-run rally in the top of the fifth, and Bard led, 4-0.
Richardson ran into a little trouble in the bottom of the fifth, as the Golden Knights got key two-out hits from Cam Bando (Wakefield, MA) and Ben Knauf (Spencerport, NY) to cut Bard's lead to 4-3 entering the sixth. The first game was scheduled for seven innings.
A key error in the bottom of the sixth propelled Clarkson into the lead. After a walk and a sacrifice bunt, Clarkson had the tying run on second. Richardson struck out the next batter, but an error on the catcher allowed the batter to reach, and things went south from there.
Alex Bunnell replaced Richardson to try to put out the fire with runners on first and third with one out, but he hit the first batter, then gave up three straight hits, and Clarkson's five-run rally made it 8-4 with Bard heading toward its last at-bat.
Esteban Rivera doubled and scored in the top of the seventh, but that's all the Raptors could muster, and they lost Game 1, 8-5.
Richardson (2-3) took the loss; Ryan Riley (2-0) picked up the win in relief. Lasky went 3-for-4 with two RBI, and
David Schlosser had two hits for Bard. Knauf drove in three runs for the Golden Knights.
In Game 2, Clarkson got an excellent start from Rory Corcoran (Massena, NY), then hung on as Bard got the tying run to second in the ninth. Corcoran gave up two runs on two hits through six innings;
Frank Ortega yielded four runs on seven hits through six and two-thirds, and Clarkson led, 4-2, entering the ninth inning.
With one out in the top of the ninth,
Preston Gittelson singled, and pinch-hitter
Dylan Long singled through the left side. At that point, Clarkson called on Riley again to come out of the bullpen.
Quinn McInerney bunted, and Riley threw it away. Two runs scored and McInerney ended up on second with one out. But Riley got a strikeout and groundout to end the game and pick up the save.
Corcoran (1-0) got the win; Ortega (2-2) took the loss.
Julian Gonzalez went 1-for-3 with an RBI for Bard; Bando went 2-for-4 with two RBI and Dom Pirro (Liverpool, NY) homered for Clarkson.
Clarkson improved to 10-11 overall, 7-5 in the Liberty League; Bard is 8-12, 3-7.
The teams will wrap up this four-game series on Saturday. First pitch has been moved from noon to 10 a.m. to avoid some rain in the forecast. Follow both games via Live Stats right here.
