HENRIETTA, NY – In its final regular season doubleheader of the season, the University of Rochester baseball team was defeated twice at the hands of the host Rochester Institute of Technology on Sunday afternoon at Tiger Stadium.
 
The Tigers won 13-5 in game one and captured a 14-4 decision in game two, securing a berth into the Liberty League Crossover Series next weekend with a 22-11 record overall and 11-7 mark in conference play. RIT finished 8-7 in West Division games.
 
Rochester's two losses drop the Yellowjackets to 15-15 overall, 9-8 in Liberty League play and 6-8 in West Division contests.
 
UR plays St. Lawrence on Tuesday afternoon at 5 pm with the fourth and final West Division spot in the Liberty League Crossover series on the line. Hobart, also currently 6-8 in the division, has a chance at the final crossover spot and plays a final conference make-up game against Clarkson on Monday.
 
Game 1: RIT 13, Rochester 5
The host Tigers used a big 6-run second inning to break open the game and secured the victory by tacking on an additional three runs in the seventh inning, putting the game out of reach.
 
Rochester got the scoring started in the top of the first inning with Alexander Gonzalo singling in Jackson Reed.
 
The Yellowjackets tacked on single runs in the second and third inning as well on Sammy Smith and Benjamin Garber base hits, but RIT also scored in the first three frames, recording multiple runs twice to grab the early lead.
 
RIT pushed two runs across on a Charlie Slaymaker double in the first and then scored six in the big second inning. Jarin Moses clubbed a grand slam in the home half of the second, with Adam Marsh and Jackson Rusiecki adding RBI's.
 
In the fifth, UR scored a pair of runs to trim the lead to four, but that was as close as Rochester would get the rest of the game. Garber added another RBI single, with Luke Gregory completing the Yellowjackets scoring with a sacrifice fly to score Josh Leadem.
 
Rochester pounded out 12 hits in the game one loss, with five players, Reed, Gonzalo, Leadem, Garber and Gregory all finishing with two. Gonzalo scored twice and had a double, while Garber drove in two. UR also stole four bases during the contest.
 
Sunil Lindsay took the loss for the 'Jackets, serving up seven hits and eight runs in two innings. Jack Subramanian, Aidan Watts and Matthew Grier also saw time on the mound for Rochester.
 
Game 2: RIT 14, Rochester 4
In game two, Rochester got off to a quick start, scoring three runs on a Colby Cruser 3-run blast to right field in the top of the first inning.
 
But that lead was erased right away in the bottom half of the inning, as Moses launched his second home run of the day, plating three runs for the Tigers.
 
In the third, Gregory regained the lead for the Yellowjackets on an RBI single to right, scoring Gonzalo. The inning was extended by an RIT error, allowing UR to take the one-run advantage.
 
Again, the Tigers responded though, with Roberto Reade singled down the left field line to knot the game back up at 4-all through three.
 
RIT took the lead for good in the bottom of the fourth, scoring three runs to go in front 7-4. With one out, the Tigers recorded three straight hits to go in front on a Caelen Kim single. Later in the inning, Marsh laced a 2-run single to center to boost RIT's lead to three.
 
The score remained 7-4 until RIT exploded for seven runs in the bottom of the seventh to reach the Liberty League's 10-run mercy rule, winning 14-4. The final blow of the game was a Slaymaker grand slam off the right field foul pole.
 
UR's Leadem was the lone player on Rochester to finish with multiple hits in game two, going 2-for-4 with a double. Cruser drown in three with his home run, while Gonzalo scored two runs, going 1-for-2 with a walk and HBP.
 
On the mound, Mark Aaronson took the loss, giving up ten hits and seven runs. Thomas Blaydes and Zach Herzog also appeared for UR out of the bullpen.