ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. - The Bard College baseball team suffered a pair of agonizing losses to Vassar in a Liberty League doubleheader on Saturday, as the Brewers walked-off in their last at-bat in both games.
Vassar won Game 1, 5-4, in eight innings, then pushed a run across in the bottom of the seventh in Game 2, to win that one, 7-6.
Bard threw ace
Evan Richardson out there for the Liberty League opener, and Vassar got to him for three runs on five hits to take a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the third, then made it 4-0 on a couple of hits in the bottom of the fourth.
Vassar starter Max Spencer (San Diego, CA) hadn't given up a hit through four innings, but the Raptors cut the deficit to 4-1 on an error and an RBI single by
Robert Arciola. Richardson cruised through the bottom of the fifth, and then Bard tied it up in the top of the sixth.
Jordan Myers singled,
Chris Blake walked, and one out later,
Esteban Rivera walked to load the bases.
Justin Fiume drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, and then two more runs came across on an infield error to tie the game at 4-4. Richardson cruised through the sixth.
The game was scheduled for seven innings. Bard got a runner to second base with out out in the top of the inning but didn't score, and Vassar did the same in the bottom of the seventh. It went to extra innings.
With one out in the top of the eighth, Rivera singled, then Fiume doubled, putting runners at second and third.
Gunnar Schichtl walked to load the bases. What followed was truly bizarre.
Nikolai Grumet swung at the first pitch he saw from reliever Patrick Fitzgerald (Phoenix, MD), and his aluminum bat inexplicably broke. The handle stayed in his hand, the barrel floated in the direction of the second baseman, and the ball rolled slowly to Fitzgerald. It was a 1-2-3 double play and the threat was over.
Vassar put runners on second and third with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, and Bryan Rubin (Bryn Mawr, PA) lashed a single to center to win the game.
Richardson (2-2) struck out eight over 7.1 innings, throwing 133 pitches. Fitzgerald (1-1) got the win in relief.
The second game was a thriller, too. A two-out, two-run triple by
Rory Maglich gave Bard a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, but Vassar got one back on a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the first. It stayed 2-1 until the bottom of the fifth, when Vassar took the lead with a bases-loaded walk and RBI singles by Taylor Smach (Manlius, NY) and Brent Shimoda (Aiea, HI). It was 4-2 entering the top of the sixth. Because the first game went extra innings, Game 2 was scheduled for seven innings instead of nine.
Bard rallied to take the lead in the top of the sixth with three unearned runs, a key infield error with two outs making it possible. It was 5-4 headed to the bottom of the sixth, but Vassar scored twice on wild pitches, making it 6-5, Bard just three outs away from losing Game 2.
With two outs in the top of the seventh,
Spencer Checkoway walked and Arciola was hit by a pitch.
Julian Gonzalez singled to left to tie the game, 6-6.
But Vassar started the bottom of the seventh with a walk and a hit-by-pitch, and with one out, Connor Levchuk (Greenlawn, NY) hit a bloop single behind first base, and Vassar walked off again.
Bard outhit Vassar, 12-8, in Game 2 but the Raptors were haunted by 11 walks. Gonzalez, Myers, Blake, Fiume and Checkoway had two hits apiece.
The teams will meet again for a doubleheader at Bard on Sunday. Follow it live right here.
