Potsdam, NY - Needing a win in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader, sophomore righty Pete Roma (Endicott, NY) pitched eight strong innings to put the Clarkson University Baseball team in a position to win, and the Golden Knights did just that, scoring once in the bottom of the eighth to take game two 5-4 after losing the first game 11-6 at Jack Phillips Stadium.

The Golden Knights moved to 18-19 overall and 12-14 in the Liberty League, and now trail the University of Rochester by percentage points for the last playoff spot. Clarkson needs to win one more game than the Yellowjackets on Sunday to take the final spot in the conference tournament. St. Lawrence still has a chance to host the tournament, as its record is now 24-12 overall and 17-8 in the Liberty League. The Saints will need to be one game better than RPI to claim the top spot in the conference.

In the first game, St. Lawrence started the game with a walk and three seeing-eye singles to quickly put two runs on the board and tacked on three more when Paul Piatelli doubled to center and a pair of outs drove in two more for a 5-0 lead before Clarkson even had the chance to hit. The Knights scored two in the bottom of the second when Jerry Coleman (Potsdam, NY) doubled to shallow right center and the ball got away, allowing both runners to come home.

The Saints picked up a run in the fourth on a two-out bloop single from Piatelli that floated over the shortstop's head for a 6-2 lead, but Clarkson rallied in the fifth to score four and tie the game. David Wixted (Ballston Lake, NY) singled in Bobby Derico (Watervliet, NY) to make the score 6-3, and two batters later Coleman delivered a double that was just fair in right field to empty the bases.

In the top of the seventh inning, St. Lawrence used its aggressiveness at the plate and jumped on first pitch fastballs to score five runs with five straight hits, with the biggest blow coming off the bat of Khifer O'Connor, who doubled to left to conclude the rally. Pete Lasecki (Stratford, CT) came on to get the final two outs on six pitches, but the damage was done and St. Lawrence came away with the victory.

For the Knights, Jerry Coleman drove in five runs on a 2-for-3 performance at the plate while Piatelli was 3-for-5 with three RBIs for the Saints and O'Connor was 3-for-5 with two RBIs. Kyle Donaldson worked two scoreless frames to earn the win in relief for St. Lawrence.

In the second game, Clarkson scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the second inning with back-to-back hits from Pete Clarke (Tully, NY) and Tim Beninati (Schoharie, NY), but St. Lawrence plated three unearned runs in the top of the next inning thanks to an RBI groundout from Carter Franz and a two-run double from Khifer O'Connor. Clarkson tied the score in the fourth thanks to a bases loaded two-out error, and then took a one-run lead in the fifth on an RBI-single from Dan Padrazo (Setuacket, NY). The Saints picked up an unearned run of their own in the top of the sixth inning as O'Connor scored on a double play after reaching on an error.

In the bottom of the eighth innings, the Knights got the game-winning run thanks to another error. Jerry Coleman reached on a bobble at third base and methodically moved around the bases on a hit by pitch, a walk, and another walk. In the top of the ninth inning, Jarrod Mattingly (Philadelphia, NY) worked out of trouble with a strikeout, a flyout and a first-and-third grounder from Franz to end the game.

Clarkson's top of the order was quiet in game two, but Clarke was 3-for-4 while Padrazo and Wixted each contributed two hits. O'Connor and Bryan Palermo each had two hits for the Saints.

Roma earned the victory in the second game with eight strong innings that saw him throw 106 pitches and allow seven hits. Mattingly earned his third save of the season.