TROY, N.Y. (May 14) - Freshman Bryan Palermo broke a 2-2 tie with a double in the bottom of the eight inning and the St. Lawrence University baseball team held on for a, 5-4, victory over Skidmore College in an elimination game of the Liberty League Tournament, Saturday in Troy. The Saints will take on RPI, a 17-3 loser to Clarkson, in an elimination game Sunday at 9 a.m.

With one out in the eighth, Palmero drove a pitch from Skidmore senior righthander Nick Laracuente into the gap in right-center, scoring Saints sophomore Carter Franz  all the way from first to take a 3-2 lead.

St. Lawrence tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the ninth as sophomore second baseman Ethan Braddock  knocked in junior Tom Pasquali with a single through the left side of the infield. Palermo drove in St. Lawrence's fifth run on a fielder's choice to third.

The Thoroughbreds fought back to cut the lead to 5-4 in the bottom of the stanza, behind run-scoring hits by seniors Logan Arena and Rob Rubenstein , but St. Lawrence reliever Kyle Donaldson (came on to record the final out of the game - a strikeout of freshman Erik with runners on first and third.

Sophomore Matt DeLuca  lifted a sacrifice fly to left to bring home the game's first run in the top of the fourth inning. A two-out RBI-single by freshman Zane Fish plated sophomore Paul Piatelli  pushed the Saints lead to 2-0.and

The Thoroughbreds threaten in the bottom half of the frame, as Rubenstein singled and stole second with one out. Watkins followed with a base-hit to right, pushing Rubenstein to third, but freshman Jeremy Selecky lined out into an inning ending double-play.

Skidmore did eventually pull even at 2-2 with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth, when junior first baseman Zack Rudman drilled a run-scoring single down the leftfield line, which scored Arena from second. Watkins tripled to the wall in right center, driving in Rudman.

Junior Jason Conde earned the win for the Saints surrendering four runs on nine hits over 8.2 innings. He struck out five and walked four. Laracuente suffered the loss, giving up five runs (four earned) on eight hits, while throwing a complete game. He finished with nine strikeouts and two walks.

The Saints will play the loser of a winners bracket game between RPI and Clarkson in Saturday's third game.