Game 1 Box Score / Game 2 Box Score

CANTON, NY - Rensselaer won its seventh in a row in the series opener scoring three times in the top of the ninth inning and holding off the St. Lawrence for a 8-6 win.  In the nightcap, Saints junior righthander Chris Kerr shut out the Red Hawks on three hits in a 2-0 seven inning win in the Liberty League doubleheader at Tom Fay Field on Saturday, giving the Saints a split. 

RPI, now 12-7 overall and 3-3 in league play, and the Saints, 10-8, 6-4, square off in another doubleheader at Tom Fay Field Sunday at noon.

Kerr let his fielders do the work in the nightcap and he allowed only four baserunners, three on singles and another on a hit batsman, and had a pickoff. He enticed 13 fly ball outs in picking up his second win of the season.

The Saints scored the winning run without hitting the ball out of the infield in the bottom of the fifth. Ryan Kimber led off the inning with a walk off RPI starter Joe Zongol and after a failed sacrifice bunt, Matt Yaworsky beat out a bunt single. Tim Malisa then hit an infield single to load the bases and Jeff DiGeronimo drew a bases loaded walk to force in the run. The Saints added an insurance run off Zongol, who lost his first of the year after three straight wins, when Joe Regonlinski walked, pinch runner Matt Carrigg was sacrificed to second by Jake Garrow and Ryan Kimber singled him home.

The Saints jumped out to a 4-0 lead in game one of the doubleheader with a four run third inning. DiGeronimo drew a bases loaded walk to force in the game’s first run, Andrew Engebretson hit a sacrifice fly and Joe Regonlinski delivered a two-run single. RPI came right back with three in the top of the fourth as Rich Mundy delivered a two-run single and scored on an error.

RPI tied it in the top of the fifth on Stevan Slusher’s sacrifice fly and while the Saints went up 5-4 in the bottom of the sixth on Malisa’s run-scoring single, RPI forced the game into extra innings with a run in the top of the seventh as Joe Ihnatolya doubled home the tying run.

The Red Hawks scored three in the top of the ninth, all unearned, as Slusher delivered a sacrifice fly and Adam Lasek and Bob Murphy produced run scoring singles. The Saints cut it to 8-6 on Malisa’s leadoff homer in the bottom of the ninth, but Andrew Novick worked out of the inning to earn his second win of the year in relief of starter Tim Klein. Mike Root took the loss for the Saints in relief of Josh White.