PRINCE ATHLETIC COMPLEX – Two very different games ended with the same result, two victories, for the University of Rochester baseball team over Skidmore College on Saturday afternoon at Towers Field.
 
Game one was a pitchers duel, ending 6-0, with no runs being scored through the first six innings before the Yellowjackets (10-7, 5-1 Liberty League) erupted in the final inning.  The nightcap was a slugfest, going 15-11 in Rochester's favor, helping UR to a 3-1 conference weekend record against the Thoroughbreds (7-9, 2-6 Liberty League).
 
The opener saw UR's Garrett Renslow and Skidmore's Will Potter go toe-to-toe on the mound.  Renslow tossed his first career shutout, logging all seven innings while surrendering just six hits and no walks with six strikeouts.  Potter went six plus innings, allowed two runs on four hits, but issued five walks in picking up the loss.
 
Through the opening six scoreless innings, the two teams did have their chances, with the Yellowjackets stranding two runners on in the opening inning.  Skidmore recorded two hits also in the first, but a solid relay play from the UR defense on a Pat Geiger double saved a run, gunning down a runner at home plate.
 
Skidmore also had runners on second and third in the second inning, but Renslow escaped once again, getting a flyout to end the threat.
 
Rochester's fourth saw UR get runners on the corners after a David Rieth single, steal, and error followed by a Jacob Matzat walk, but Potter got a strikeout to strand two and keep the game tied 0-0.
 
The game remained scoreless until the 7th when Rochester sent 10 men to the plate, scoring six times to break the game open.  Matzat tripled to open the inning and after two walks the bases were loaded.
 
Skidmore nearly escaped the jam, getting two infield force plays at him before Steve Pickering lined a single up the middle to score the opening runs of the game.  Jack Herman drew a walk to re-load the bases and Aiden Finch then delivered the knockout blow, clearing the bases with a triple to right center.  Rieth followed with a double to complete the scoring.
 
Rieth was 2-4 and the only Yellowjacket with multiple hits, adding a double and stolen base in game one.  Herman went 1-1 with three walks, while Finch had his three-run triple highlight his stat line.
 
Skidmore's William Snyder had a 2-3 game with a double.
 

In game two, the bats broke out for both squads, with the teams combining for 26 runs and 31 hits, aided by a generously blowing outward wind at Towers Field.  Rochester scored in seven of nine innings, while the Thoroughbreds put up three or more runs on three different occasions.
 
Skidmore jumped out to the early lead after the first inning, scoring three times off UR starter Kevin Ho.  Geiger doubled to left scoring a run, Potter tripled to center for another run and then scampered home on a wild pitch to make it a quick 3-0 lead.
 
Ho settled in after that, facing just one over the minimum over the next three innings, allowing his teammates to get the lead.  The senior finished with a career-high seven strikeouts in 4.1 innings.
 
Rochester was able to tie it in the third inning following a Jake Hertz RBI single and Pickering home run to left center.
 
Kyle Trombley ripped a solo blast to left center in the next inning to put UR on top, a lead they would not give up the rest of the way.
 
Five runs came across in the fifth inning allowing UR to break open the scoring, all coming with two outs.  Hertz led off with a double, but Skidmore's starter Spencer Anderson retired the next two batters, looking like he was going to get out of the inning.
 
Finch lined a double off the wall to extend the inning and score Hertz, chasing Anderson from the game.  Meanwhile, the UR senior would record the 43rd double of his career, breaking a 26-year old school record for doubles set by Jim Ritzel back in 1993.
 
Rieth singled to center scoring Finch and after two walks loaded the bases, Aaron Craig just missed a grand slam by two feet, instead settling for a bases clearing double off the wall in center.
 
Skidmore responded with three runs of its own in the bottom of the inning, with Geiger lining an RBI double to center, Potter recording an RBI groundout and Sam Browning doubling in another run to make the score 9-6.
 
The Yellowjackets extended the lead back to six runs after scoring once in the sixth and twice in the seventh, but the Thoroughbreds again clawed back, scoring four times on three extra base hits in the seventh inning as well to make it a two run game at 12-10.  Geiger and Browning homered while Matt Chipkin added an RBI double.
 
UR and Skidmore traded runs in the eighth inning, with Herman and Finch adding RBI's in the ninth inning for the Yellowjackets, completing the scoring.
 
Brendan Shamieh closed out the victory with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.
 
Hertz and Pickering each went 4-5 in game two.  Hertz added 2 doubles, 3 runs and 2 RBI, while Pickering finished a double shy of the cycle with 3 RBI and 2 runs.
 
Finch went 2-5 with three RBI, Matzat was 2-5 with a double and two runs scored while Rieth and Trombley each scored multiple times.
 
Skidmore's lineup was bolstered by Gieger who went 4-5 with two doubles, a homer and 5 RBI.  Potter finished 3-5 with a triple and two RBI and Browning was 2-5 with two extra base hits and two batted in.
 
Rochester has a quick league turnaround, traveling to crosstown league rival RIT on Tuesday for a makeup of an earlier postponed doubleheader.  Skidmore next plays at home against Plattsburgh on Thursday.