POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - The Bard Raptors swept a doubleheader at Vassar on Saturday, edging the Brewers, 5-4, in Game 1, and rallying from six runs down to win Game 2, 15-11. The deficit overcome to win Game 2 was a Bard baseball record.
Bard was up early, 4-0, in Game 1, but Vassar battled back, scoring once in the third, once in the fifth, and twice in the bottom of the sixth to tie it, 4-4, in a game scheduled for seven innings. In the top of the seventh,
Spencer Checkoway reached on an error, moved to second on a wild pitch, then scored on an RBI single by first year
Michael Kurlan. The Brewers got two on with one out in the bottom of the seventh, but
Evan Matthews closed it out, earning the win in relief of
Aidan Risse.
"Our offense is what carried us today," Bard coach
Andy Salvatore said. "We were just able to stay in it offensively, put some pressure on them, take advantage of opportunities they gave us, and get some timely hits."
Vassar scored four in the first of Game 2, and it took the Raptors five innings to catch up, tying it, 5-5, with a three-run fifth. The Brewers put up six in the bottom of the inning though, and Bard was down, 11-6, going into the top of the eighth inning of a game scheduled for nine.
Bard sent 14 batters to the plate in a nine-run eighth, a rally capped off by a two-run triple from
Jordan Myers. The eighth-inning comeback served a dual purpose, because it not only gave Bard the lead, but it took forever. After
Spencer Checkoway set Vassar down with a 1-2-3 bottom of the inning, the umpires called the game due to darkness at 7:39 p.m.
Checkoway, Myers,
Alex Luscher and
Jared Toby drove in three runs apiece for Bard, and
Justin Fiume had three hits and scored twice.
Joe Barcia hit a pair of doubles on the day and is hitting .483.
Bard is 3-3 in the Liberty League and 4-6 overall. The Raptors play six Liberty League games in the next week: Two at at home against Ithaca on Wednesday, and four against Skidmore over the weekend.
"We will enjoy these today, then rest up," Salvatore said. "We will learn from the mistakes we made this weekend and try to correct them before Ithaca arrives on Wednesday."