Box Score
TROY, N.Y. – Freshman Bryan Palermo broke a 2-2 tie with a double in the bottom of the eight inning and the Saint Lawrence University baseball team held on for a, 5-4, victory over Skidmore College in an elimination game of the Liberty League Tournament, this morning at Robison Field. With the win, the Saints improve to 19-20 overall and advance to the 4:30pm game, this afternoon. The Thoroughbreds fall to 26-13 on the season.
With one out in the eighth, Palermo (Jamesport, NY/Riverhead) drove a pitch from Skidmore senior righthander Nick Laracuente (Tenalfy, NJ/Tenafly) into the gap in right-center, scoring Saints sophomore Carter Franz (Cazenovia, NY/Cazenovia) all the way from first to take a 3-2 lead.
St. Lawrence tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the ninth as sophomore second baseman Ethan Braddock (Manlius, NY/Fayetteville-Manlius) knocked in junior Tom Pasquali (Voorheesville, NY/Clayton A. Bouton) with a single through the left side of the infield. Palermo drove in St. Lawrence's fifth run on a fielder's choice to third.
The Thoroughbreds fought back to within one (5-4) in the bottom of the stanza, behind run-scoring hits by seniors Logan Arena (Upton, MA/Nipmuc Regional) and Rob Rubenstein (Highland Park, NJ/Highland Park), but St. Lawrence reliever Kyle Donaldson (Gorham, ME/Gorham) came on to record the final out of the game – a strikeout of freshman Erik Watkins (Sudbury, MA/Lincoln Sudbury) with runners on first and third.
Sophomore Matt DeLuca (Nepean, ON/St. Joseph Catholic) lifted a sacrifice fly to left to bring home the game's first run in the top of the fourth inning. A two-out RBI-single by freshman Zane Fish (Evans Mills, NY/Indian River) plated sophomore Paul Piatelli (Attleboro, MA/Berkshire School) pushed the Saints lead to 2-0.
The Thoroughbreds threaten in the bottom half of the frame, as Rubenstein singled and stole second with one out. Watkins followed with a base-hit to right, pushing Rubenstein to third, but freshman Jeremy Selecky (Roseland, NJ/St. Peter's Prep) lined out into an inning ending double-play.
Skidmore did eventually pull even (2-2) with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth, when junior first baseman Zack Rudman (Pittsford, MA/Pittsford Mendon) drilled a run-scoring single down the leftfield line, which scored Arena from second. Watkins tripled to the wall in right center, driving in Rudman.
Junior Jason Conde (Voorheesville, NY/Clayton A. Bouton) earned the win for the Saints surrendering four runs on nine hits over 8.2 innings. He struck out five and walked four. Laracuente suffered the loss, giving up five runs (four earned) on eight hits, while throwing a complete game. He finished with nine strikeouts and two walks.
