ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. - The Bard College baseball team split a pair of games Sunday afternoon, topping St. Lawrence University, 5-4 in the first game, before falling in the second, 14-10.
With the win and loss, the Raptors' record moved to 14-19 overall and 7-12 in the Liberty League. The Saints of St. Lawrence meanwhile, are now 5-22 and 4-13.
In Game 1, a first inning sacrifice fly from Mike Pizzuto and a Chris Blake RBI single gave Bard an early 2-0 lead, before James Cronin (Ithaca, NY) was able to tie the contest up in the third inning with a two-run single.
The Raptors jumped back in front in the fourth, when Jordan Myers slapped an 0-1 pitch to to left field for an RBI single. During the next at-bat, Rory Maglich scored on a wild pitch to double the Bard lead, 4-2.
St. Lawrence cut into the lead in the sixth off an RBI double from Taylor Digilio (New Paltz, NY), but Bard got the run back in the seventh, when Matt Lasky scored on a Maglich fielder's choice.
In the seventh, the Saints scored another run off an RBI double to cut the deficit to 5-4, but Caleb LaRosa was able to seal the game for Bard.
Kyle Zigner picked up the win for the Raptors. He tossed 5.2 innings, allowed just three runs on six hits and collected four strikeouts. LaRosa earned his first career save following his 1.1 innings of action. Patrick Greenan (St. Johnsbury, VT) collected the loss for St. Lawrence.
Blake finished 3-for-4 with an RBI in the Game 1, while Lasky scored twice in the win.
In Game 2, the bats came alive for both sides. The teams combined for 24 runs on 21 hits, as St. Lawrence slugged its way to a 14-10 win.
The Saints opened the game with three runs in the first inning, as Bard harmed itself with two errors in the frame. The Raptors weren't behind for long however.
The hosts erupted for six runs in the third and two more in fourth to take an 8-3 advantage. The runs in the third came courtesy of an RBI single from Lasky, a sacrifice fly from Pizzuto, a two-RBI double from Blake, a bases-loaded hit by pitch and an RBI single from Myers.
In the fourth, Blake knocked in another RBI, while Pizzuto was able to score off a St. Lawrence fielding error. At that point, it looked like Bard was going to cruise to an easy victory.
The Saints had other plans though.
They guests responded to the deficit with three runs in the bottom of the fourth to make it 8-6, before Lee Perry was able to drive in a run in the sixth to push Bard's advantage just a bit wider.
It didn't matter,
The Saints tied the contest up at 9-9 with three runs in the sixth, before taking the lead for good with a run in the seventh and four more in the eighth.
The Raptors did get a run back in the top of the ninth, but ended up losing, 14-10.
Bard starter, Steve Marotta, threw four innings and allowed six runs (three earned) in a no-decision effort. Zach Hayes received the loss for the Raptors, while reliever Tommy Voce (Oxford, NY) collected the win for the Saints.
Blake continued his hot afternoon with three RBIs on two hits in the effort. Myers meanwhile, finished with two hits in the loss.
As for St. Lawrence, Digilio led the way with three hits, three RBIs and three runs in the win.
Up next for the Raptors is one final weekend series, as the team will play a home and away series with rival, Vassar College. The first two games will be played at Bard on May 5th, which will be Senior Day. First pitch is set for noon and you can follow those games here.
