PRINCE ATHLETIC COMPLEX – University of Rochester baseball split its Friday doubleheader against Hobart College to take its three-game, Liberty League series against the Statesmen at Towers Field. Following their 6-2 victory on Thursday in Geneva, NY in game one of the series, Rochester took the series with a 5-2 win in game one of the doubleheader, before dropping game two, 7-0.
 
With the split, Rochester now stands at 9-8 (4-2 LL) on the year, while the Statesmen are now 12-6 (3-3 LL).
 
GAME ONE: Rochester 5, Hobart 2.
Sunil Lindsay got the start for the Yellowjackets in game one and worked around a pair of baserunners in the top of the first, picking off Nate Johnson after a leadoff walk, while Christian Petry was caught trying to steal second after a one-out hit-by-pitch.
 
UR would also leave a baserunner on in the bottom of the frame, as Trevor Kimball got three-straight outs after a leadoff single by Jackson Reed, and the Statesmen would push two runs across when they came back up to the plate.
 
Will Jones led off the second with a single to left and took second on Lindsay's wild pitch. A lineout put the first out of the inning on the board, but Jake Farnen followed with an RBI triple down the left-field line, scoring Jones to give Hobart a 1-0 lead. A walk and a sacrifice fly then made it 2-0 before Lindsay got Jack Byrnes to ground out to prevent any further damage.
 
The Yellowjackets looked to respond in the bottom of the frame, with a pair of baserunners via an error and bunt single by Josh Leadem, but Kimball stranded two more baserunners, two of 12 left on base in game one by the 'Jackets, ending the inning with back-to-back strikeouts.
 
Lindsay settled down over the next two frames, working around a leadoff single with help from another caught stealing in the top of the third, before stranding a two-out walk in the top of the fourth.
 
Matt Casiero relieved Lindsay to start the sixth with Rochester down 2-0, and kept the Statesmen's lead at just two, stranding a two-out baserunner with his second strikeout of the inning.
 
Meanwhile, at the plate, UR left runners on base in the fourth and fifth innings before finally breaking through in the sixth. Leadem led off the bottom of the sixth with a single, took second on Ethan Jaquette's sacrifice bunt, and third on Alexander Gonzalo's groundout to third before Sammy Besztery poked a single through the left side to score UR's first run of the contest.
 
With Hobart's lead cut in half, Casiero struck out two more in the top of the seventh, working around a two-out double, and the 'Jackets would tie things up in the bottom of the frame.
 
The Statesmen brought in Max Friedlander to relieve Kimball after six frames, and UR quickly picked up two hits, tying the game on Leadem's RBI single. Jackson Reed reached on a one-out error, and back-to-back singles from Colby Cruser and Leadem tied the score at 2-all.
 
A wild pitch and walk then loaded the bases, but Friedlander struck out Gonzalo and got Besztery to ground out to third to keep the 'Jackets and Statesmen tied at two.
 
But after Casiero set the Statesmen down in order in the top of the eighth, the 'Jackets would get back to it and take the lead when they came back up to bat. Rochester loaded the bases on a one-out walk by Luke Gregory and back-to-back singles by Jack Corcoran and Reed, forcing Hobart to make a pitching change.
 
Nicholas Franceschi relieved Friedlander, and three pitches later Cruser lofted a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Gregory to give Rochester its first lead of the night, 3-2. Leadem followed with an RBI single to score Corcoran and make it 4-2, while Jaquette doubled in UR's next at-bat to extend the lead to 5-2.
 
In the top of the ninth, back-to-back two-out walks forced Rochester to make a pitching change, bringing in Leadem to replace Casiero, and the graduate student needed just two pitches to finish the job, getting Byrnes to line out to earn the save and close out the 5-2 victory.
 
Casiero (1-0) picked up the win, allowing just two hits over 3.2 scoreless innings, walking two and striking out five. Leadem (2) earned the save on just two pitches, while Lindsay allowed two runs on four hits, walking three and striking out two over 5.0 innings pitched.
 
Friedlander (1-1) took the loss for Hobart, allowing four runs, three earned, on four hits over 1.1 innings pitched.
 
Leadem led Rochester with three hits and two RBI at the plate, going 3-for-5 with a run scored and two RBI, while four other 'Jackets: Besztery, Corcoran, Reed and Smith, each tallied two hits apiece.
 
GAME ONE: Hobart 7, Rochester 0.
Both teams had opportunities to score over the first two frames, with UR and Hobart combining to leave five runners on base over the first two stanzas. Matthew Grier worked around leadoff walks in each of the first two frames, while Rochester left two on with just one out in the bottom of the second.
 
Grier would yield another leadoff walk in the top of the third, as the Statesmen loaded the bases on a pair of walks and an infield single by Petry. And while Grier struck out the next two batters, both looking, Sean Garvin would take the first pitch he saw from Grier to right center, scoring a pair to give Hobart a 2-0 advantage.
 
Another RBI hit from Nate Garrett made it 3-0 Statesmen, and the Yellowjackets made a call to the bullpen, bringing in Matt Bradley to replace Grier. Hobart would tack on one more run before Bradley worked out of the inning, taking a 4-0 lead on Byrnes RBI single.
 
Rochester then loaded the bases in the bottom of the third as they looked to respond, but Griffin Snyder, who got the start for Hobart, left the bases loaded with a strikeout and lineout double play.
 
Hobart added another run in the top of the fourth on Farnen's sacrifice fly, while the 'Jackets would again load the bases in the bottom of the inning.
 
UR loaded the bases on three-straight walks, the first two yielded by Snyder and the third by Alex Frank, but again, the Statesmen worked out of the inning without allowing a run, striking out Corcoran and getting Reed to ground into a 4-6-3 double play.
 
Andrew Lenhard relieved Bradley and worked into some trouble in the fifth, as Hobart loaded the bases on an infield single and back-to-back two-out walks, but Lenhard escaped with a flyout to left to keep the lead at five.
 
Cole Tarrant settled things down on the mound for Hobart over the next few frames, striking out two in a 1-2-3 fifth, before again setting Rochester down in order in the sixth.
 
For UR, Mark Aaronson relieved Lenhard after two scoreless frames and pitched a 1-2-3 seventh, but ran into some trouble in the eighth. The Statesmen would tack on another run in the top of the eighth on Petry's RBI single to make it 6-0, and push another run across in the ninth on Johnson's fielder's choice.
 
Trailing 6-0, the Yellowjackets left two more runners on in the eighth after Besztery legged out an infield single and Gonzalo worked a two-out walk. While down 7-0 in the ninth, Charlie Forrest worked around Benjamin Garber's two-out single to close out the shutout victory.
 
Four Hobart pitchers combined for the shutout, with Tarrant (3-0) earning the win, allowing just two hits, walking one and striking out six over 3.2 innings pitched.
 
For Rochester, Grier (0-1) took the loss, allowing four runs on four hits, walking four and striking out four over 2.2 innings pitched.
 
Besztery was the lone Yellowjacket with multiple hits in game two, going 2-for-4, while Byrnes led Hobart at the plate in the second contest, going 4-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI.
 
The Yellowjackets will wrap up their weekend on Sunday, March 30, with a non-conference contest against SUNY Brockport at 1:00 p.m. at Towers Field