Potsdam, NY – Senior David Kinney (Mexico, NY) had six hits and threw a complete-game four-hitter as the Clarkson University Baseball team came away with another split in a doubleheader against Vassar on Sunday afternoon, taking the first game 6-2 before falling in the nightcap 10-6 at Jack Phillips Stadium.

The Golden Knights moved to 17-18 overall and 11-13 in conference games, slipping into fourth place with four games remaining. Vassar pushed its record to 11-21 overall and 9-13. Clarkson closes the regular season with a four-game series against St. Lawrence next weekend.

The two teams exchanged runs in the second inning as Clarkson got on the scoreboard first in the top half of the frame. Jerry Coleman (Potsdam, NY) reached on an error and advanced on a pair of bunts before John Coleman (Potsdam, NY) hit a hard groundout to second base to plate his older brother. Vassar responded with a run in the bottom of the inning when Jason Garfinkel doubled and moved around to score on a groundout and a wild pitch.

Clarkson then plated five in the top of the fourth inning as nine hitters came to the plate. Bobby Derico (Watervliet, NY) singled in a run early in the frame and John Coleman tripled home Derico for the first two runs. Jarrod Mattingly (Philadelphia, NY) singled in Coleman and Kinney followed with a double to send Mattingly home. Matt Jenack (Massena, NY) finished off the scoring with an RBI-groundout to give Clarkson a 6-1 lead. Vassar strung together three straight two-out hits in the sixth to pick up its second run of the contest, but a groundout finally ended the threat.

Kinney finished 4-for-4 at the plate with a run and an RBI, and also pitched his sixth complete game of the year, allowing four hits and a walk while striking out four. Both Coleman brothers had two hits, as did Derico and David Wixted (Ballston Lake, NY). For Vassar, Garfinkel went 2-for-3 and had the team’s lone RBI.

In game two, Vassar had three hits in each of the first two innings and scored the same amount of runs. Parker Werline doubled home a pair in the first inning for the Brewers, and Vassar took advantage of an error early in the second inning to score a pair of unearned runs after Mike Perrone singled in A.J. Kim.

Clarkson began to chip away in the fourth inning, as Kinney scored on a balk and Justin Rebhun (East Greenbush, NY) singled home Wixted for two runs. The Knights added another in the fifth when Kinney doubled in Derico to chase Vassar starter Lawrence Flicker. Vassar responded with a run in the bottom of the sixth inning with Brett Zaziski plating Kyle Casey to take a 7-3 lead. The Golden Knights picked up a run in the eighth inning on another RBI single from Rebhun, but Zander Mrlik came in and struck out three straight hitters at the bottom of Clarkson’s lineup to end the threat.

Vassar tacked on three key runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, tallying all with two outs. Zaziski singled one run in and Dave Robbins followed with a two-run single to give Vassar a 10-4 lead. Clarkson picked up two in the top of the ninth innings, but Mrlik again whiffed three hitters to earn the save.

Derico and Rebhun each had three hits for Clarkson in the second game, while Kinney and Wixted knocked a pair of hits each. Jerry Coleman was saddled with the loss for the Knights, striking out seven in six innings and allowing nine hits and four earned runs. For Vassar, Perrone and Zaziski each had three hits and Robbins and Casey also had two hits apiece.