Vassar College Baseball Salvages Split with Bard

By Steven Merritt

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON – The Vassar College Baseball team completed a comeback from down 7-1 in the seventh inning of game two to win 9-7 to split a doubleheader with Bard on Sunday afternoon. The Raptors won game one 8-2 as Vassar’s record moves to 11-5 overall and 2-1 in Liberty League play while Bard moves to 3-7 overall and 1-2 in conference action.

BARD 8 – VC 2
The Raptors tallied two unearned runs in the first inning as DJ Pearson scored on a wild pitch after he singled with no outs followed by Nick Hubbe scoring on a VC error to take a 2-0 lead after one inning.

Bard added three runs in the third as Jake Stacey tripled home two runs following a hit by pitch to Hubbe and a walk to Bryant Elliott. Anthony Brigante then scored Stacey on a RBI groundout to extend its lead to 5-0 after three complete.

Vassar got on the board in the fourth as junior Reid Lapekas singled to leadoff the inning followed by a double down the left field line from freshman Jensen Bergman. Junior Ty Murray’s recorded a RBI on a fielder’s choice to score Lapekas and Bergman scored on a double play turned by the Raptors to cut the lead to 5-2.

The Raptors answered with three runs in the fifth as Stacey doubled home Elliott followed by a Brigante RBI single to score Stacey. Bard took a 8-2 lead following a RBI fielder’s choice by Pearson.

Freshman Addison Lee took the loss for the Brewers as he went 3.1 innings in his start and allowed four hits, five runs (four earned), three walks and struck out five. Rookie Cade Terada-Herzer tossed two scoreless innings in relief and struck out two.

Aidan Risse earned the win on the mound for Bard as he threw six innings and gave up 10 hits, two runs and struck out six. Bryan Reed threw a scoreless inning of relief and struck out one.

Seniors Andrew Kanellis and Adam Talwalkar along with Lapekas each had two hits while Murray drove in a run for Vassar. Stacey finished 3-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored while Brigante had a hit and drove in three runs for Bard.

BARD – VC
After two scoreless innings to open game two of the doubleheader, Bard got on the board first as Jack Williamson laced a RBI double to score Pearson and Jimmy Famularo to take a 2-0 lead.

Vassar cut the lead down to 2-1 in the fifth as junior Jack Silvera led off with a double and was driven in on a single from sophomore Daniel Laderman. The Raptors extended its lead to 6-1 in the bottom half of the inning as Hubbe singled home two runs with one out before

Brigante’s two RBI single added two more runs for Bard.

The Raptors tacked on another run in the sixth as Jared Toby reached third on a VC error and then scored on a wild pitch to push the lead to 7-1. Vassar tallied a run in the seventh as Laderman had a two-out single followed by a RBI triple from senior Alex Warren to make it 7-2.

Vassar cut the lead down to 7-6 in the eighth as Talwalkar scored on a Bard error with two outs and then Murray had a pinch-hit RBI single to cut it to 7-4. Laderman answered with a two RBI double to right field to score Murray and Silvera to cut the lead to one.

The Brewers plated three runs in the ninth as sophomore Ricardo Reyna reached on a error and then Kanellis singled to give them first and second. Pinch-runner sophomore Jack Story and Kanellis pulled off a double steal and were scored on a single from senior Sam Brinster to go ahead 8-7. Bergman pinch ran for Brinster and proceeded to steal second and Laderman knocked him in with a RBI single to give Vassar its winning 9-7 lead.

Sophomore Luke Barrientos started on the mound for Vassar as he threw 4.1 innings and allowed six hits, six runs, six walks and struck out three. Senior Bryce Grathwohl earned the win in relief as he tossed two scoreless inning and combined with senior Joe Sabo and sophomore Collin Donnelly for 4.2 shutout innings of relief.

Elliott earned a no-decision after his start for Bard as he tossed seven innings, allowing eight hits, two runs, one walk and struck out five. Kevin Lee took the loss for the Raptors as he finished with one-plus innings, allowing six hits, seven runs (two earned) and struck out two. Dean Brown added a scoreless inning in relief for Bard.

Laderman led the way for Vassar with four hits and three RBI along with Talwalkar, Lapekas and Silvera adding two hits. Brigante drove in two runs with two hits for the Raptors while Williamson and Hubbe also drove in two runs.

Vassar returns to action at home on Wednesday afternoon against Old Westbury in non-conference action. First pitch at Prentiss Field is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.