Photo Courtesy of UR Athletics
After starting their season 4-6, the frozen rope-hitting Yellowjackets have turned around their season and are continuing their season with a comfortable overall record of 18-7 and a conference record of 11-1, which puts them at the top of the Liberty League. This recent dominance put itself on full display this past weekend during a pair of doubleheaders against division rival Skidmore College.
On Saturday April 11, during game one of the first double header, the ‘Jackets proved their fundamentally efficient and aggressive play style by posting no errors and racking up six stolen bases throughout the nine-inning contest. Difference-makers for UR in the first contest on Saturday included senior Brendan Garry and junior Evan Janifer. Garry, usually positioned at first base or catching behind the batter’s box, was put into the lineup as UR baseball’s designated hitter. He went 2-2, and one of those hits drove in one of the four Rochester runs scored. Janifer was the game’s starting pitcher for the Yellowjackets, pitching six and one-third innings, striking out seven, allowing nine hits and surrendering two earned runs. Janifer was pretty evenly matched, as his opponent, Skidmore starter Nick Petrella, surrendered two earned runs, allowed four hits and struck out six Yellowackets while pitching for a full six innings. What broke the even pitching match up, of course, was the less efficient defensive play from the Skidmore Thoroughbreds; there was an error from second baseman Matt Barra and a wild pitch from Janifer.
A couple of hours later, the ‘Jackets sent junior Dan Warren to the bump to take on opposing starter Joe Warner. Rochester’s Warren pitched seven innings, allowing three hits and two unearned runs while striking out six Thoroughbreds.
In contrast to the earlier contest, the Yellowjackets were victorious this time with an offensive surge as they came on top 13-3. The offensive effort of the ‘Jackets was evenly distributed as junior catcher Nolan Schultz, center fielder Lance Hamilton, junior shortstop Tyler Schmidt and junior right fielder Jake Meyerson had two RBIs apiece. UR’s offensive splurge overshadowed the fact that UR’s defensive squad committed three errors during game two of the first doubleheader.
The second doubleheader began with the ‘Jackets putting together four runs off of a home run by Garry and a 2-2 hitting performance by senior left fielder Sam Slutsky. Junior Josh Schulman pitched five and two-thirds innings, gave up three earned runs and struck out five, proving to be enough as the Yellowjackets walked away with the 4-3 victory.
The last competition against the Thoroughbreds was parallel to the last game in the first doubleheader. Another offensive surge ensued as the ‘Jackets won the game by a score of 13-7. Schultz hit a three-run jack, and Schmidt went 4-5.
“It’s good to start off like we have, but we need to focus on staying consistent and improving throughout the second half of the year,” Garry said after sweeping Skidmore. “We have some good opponents coming up, and we’ll have to play our best if we want to continue our success.”
Powell is a member of the class of 2018.
