Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
Game 1 Box / Game 2 Box

TROY, N.Y. – The 10th-ranked Rensselaer baseball team hit four home runs on its way to sweeping Clarkson, 7-3 and 3-2, at Robison Field. With the wins, the Red Hawks tie the school record for consecutive victories with 17. RPI is now 18-4 overall, including an 11-0 mark in Liberty League play. The Golden Knights move to 9-10 and 5-4 in the conference.

In game one, Clarkson starting pitcher Greg Chojecki (West Seneca, NY/St. Francis) held the Red Hawks hitless through 3.0 innings. Leading 1-0 with one out in the fourth, Chojecki walked junior Patrick Reardon (Troy, NY/LaSalle Institute) in front of sophomore Nic Marchese (Tampa, FL/Chamberlain), who drove a pitch over the right field fence for a two-run, opposite-field home run and a 2-1 Red Hawks edge.

Rensselaer added three runs in the fifth to take a 5-1 advantage. Senior Jim Devine (Castleton, NY/Columbia) walked to lead off the inning, followed by the first of two home runs on the game from junior Scott Robinson (Schenectady, NY/Mohonasen). Marchese added a sacrifice fly later in the inning, which plated Tom Jebb (Ticonderoga, NY/Ticonderoga).

The Red Hawks added a pair of insurance runs in the sixth, on Robinson's second home run – a two-run shot to right. Clarkson got those two back in the seventh on RBI-singles from senior Austin Pitkin (Dexter, NY/General Brown) and freshman Jerry Coleman (Potsdam, NY/Potsdam), before RPI reliever Mike Cieszko (Stevenson Ranch, CA/William S. Hart) was able to record the final out.

RPI senior starter Andy Opperman (Oneida, NY/Vernon-Verona-Sherrill) earned the win, surrendering three runs on nine hits in 6.0 innings. He struck out six, while walking three. Chojecki took the loss, allowing five runs on two hits, with three walks over 4.1 innings.

Game two saw the Golden Knights take a 2-0 lead in the third inning on senior Matt Holiday's (Syracuse, NY/Bishop Ludden) fifth home run of the season.

Rensselaer tied the game at 2-2 in the fourth on three straight hits with one away in the inning. After Reardon singled sharply up the middle, Marchese doubled off the wall in the left to put runners on the second and third. Junior Andrew Krushelnyski (Bloomfield, MI/Brother Rice) then delivered a two-run single, past the dive of Clarkson shortstop Pete Clarke (Tully, NY/CBA) and into centerfield.

The score remained tied until there were two outs in the bottom of the sixth, when Devine hit a towering home run down the right field line to give the Red Hawks a 3-2 lead. Classmate Andrew Novick (Hopewell Junction, NY/John Jay) gave up two hits over the final two innings to earn his third win of the season. He had five strikeouts including all three batters he faced in the seventh.

Starter John Dreimiller (Ticonderoga, NY/Ticonderoga) went 5.0 innings, allowing two runs on three hits, with six strikeouts. Pitkin got the start for the Golden Knights, finishing with two earned runs on three hits in 4.0 innings. He did not allow a hit until the fourth and finished with four strikeouts.

The Red Hawks return to action this Saturday (1pm) and Sunday (12pm), when they visit league-rival and 18th-ranked Rochester for a pair of doubleheaders.