TROY, N.Y. – Juniors Weston Hawkins and Christian Spagnuola combined for eight of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) baseball team's 19 hits in a 17-2 victory over Clarkson University in Game 2 of a Liberty League doubleheader at Robison Field on Sunday. The Engineers, who dropped Game 1 by a score of 5-0, are now 11-13 overall (6-4 Liberty League), while the Golden Knights are 8-10 (5-5 Liberty League).

Hawkins (Fleetwood, PA/Fleetwood) went 4 for 4 with a home run, three runs scored, an RBI and two walks, while Spagnuola was 4 for 5 with a run.

After four scoreless innings, Hawkins got the Engineers on the board with his first home run of the season in the top of the fifth. Senior Thomas Desmond (Alamo, CA/De LaSalle) followed with a two-run double, before junior Ethann Meister (Santa Teresa, NM/Santa Teresa) made it 4-0 with an RBI-double of his own.

Clarkson junior Ben Knauf (Spencerport, NY/Aquinas Institute of Rochester) got one run back in the bottom of the inning on a run-scoring single to center.

RPI then plated a single run in the sixth and blew the game open with a nine-run top of the seventh. The outburst was highlighted by two-run single from senior Sam Lawrence (Chicago, IL/University of Chicago High School). A sac fly and an error made it 15-1 Engineers after seven.

Sophomore Michael Arboleda (Wappingers Falls, NY/John Jay) and Meister drove in runs with a hit by pitch and a walk, respectively, with the bases loaded in the eighth, before junior Nick Busby (Landing, NJ/Roxbury) knocked home RPI's 17th run with a groundout to third.

The Golden Knights capped the scoring in the contest with a sac fly from pinch hitter Nolan Duda (Latham, NY/Albany Academy) in the bottom of the eighth.

RPI freshman righthander Christopher Palmiero (Patterson, NY/Carmel) worked an efficient 8.0 innings for his second straight win, allowing two runs on seven hits. He struck out five and walked one, while throwing 101 pitches.

Junior Kyle LaMantia (Smithtown, NY/Commack) worked a perfect ninth, picking up one strikeout.

In Game 1, Clarkson senior lefthander Ted Wilson (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) improved to 4-0 on the season with a 7.0-inning, complete game shutout. He allowed just two hits, with two strikeouts and three walks.

Rensselaer junior Aaron Kalish (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) took the loss, giving up four runs on six hits in 2.1 innings. Senior Jack Krasovec (Haverhill, MA/St. John's Prep) surrendered a single run on three hits in 3.2 innings of relief. He struck out three and walked one.

The Golden Knights scored two runs each in the second and third innings for a 4-0 lead. Freshman Joe Fraser (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) and senior Chris Miller (Ballston Lake, NY/Shenendehowa) both delivered RBI-double for Clarkson in the two frames.

Fraser then tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth, bringing in senior Dom Pirro (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) with a base hit up the middle.

Rensselaer is back on the diamond on Tuesday, when it hosts Oneonta (4:30pm), while Clarkson visits Bard for four next weekend.