Potsdam, NY - Senior David Kinney (Mexico, NY) hit a game-tying home run in the third inning of the second game to tie the Clarkson University Baseball team's career record, helping lift the Knights to a split against the University of Rochester Friday afternoon at Jack Phillips Stadium.

Rochester won the opener 7-0 behind a three-hit shutout from Jon Menke, while Clarkson won the second game 5-3. The Golden Knights moved to 12-11 overall and 6-8 in the Liberty League, while the visiting Yellowjackets pushed their mark to 6-16 overall and 3-10 in league games. The two teams will play another conference twinbill starting at 11:00 am on Saturday.

Clarkson threatened in the first inning against Menke as John Coleman (Potsdam, NY) led off the game by swinging at the first pitch he saw, doubling to center field. However, Coleman was cut down at home two batters later on a fielder's choice, and the Knights would never come close to scoring again as Menke did a solid job of pitching to contact and was helped out with a pair of double plays. He allowed just three hits and three walks while striking out six during his seven-inning complete game effort.

Rochester scored a pair in the second inning as Ethan Sander drove in a pair with a one-out single, but the Knights did more than their share in helping the Yellowjackets score from there out. Of the next five runs scored over the following four innings, just one was an earned run for Clarkson starter Bryan Chudy (Goshen, NY). Rochester plated a pair of unearned runs in the third, and scored three times in the sixth with the benefit of just one hit. Sander finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs while Sam Slutsky and Nick Carlson each had two hits.

In the second game, Rochester again got on the scoreboard first, picking up a run in the top of the second inning. Sander singled to left with the bases loaded, plating one run, but Dan Lenney (Clifton Park, NY) was able to make a perfect throw to the plate to record a key out and hold the Yellowjackets to just a single tally. In the bottom of the third, Kinney launched the second pitch he saw out to left field for his second home run of the season and the 18th of his career, tying the school mark set by Tim Barcomb in 2003. The Knights would pick up four more runs in the sixth. Freshman Bobby Derico (Watervliet, NY) lined out to right to score Jerry Coleman (Potsdam, NY) from third base, but Rochester could have nearly gotten out of the jam. Dan Padrazo (Setaucket, NY) was well off the base thinking that the ball would drop in safely for a hit, but fortunately the Rochester first baseman was set up as a cut off in the middle of the infield and wasn't near the base to double off Padrazo. The play proved to be a game-changer as Clarkson took the lead and then scored three more in the inning on an infield single from Scott Morrissey (Troy, NY) and a two-run single from John Coleman (Potsdam, NY).

The Yellowjackets added two runs in the eighth inning, picking up one on a groudout and another on a soft infield single. However, Jarrod Mattingly (Philadelphia, NY) ended the threat with a strikeout and then got three straight outs in the ninth to earn the save.

Kinney was 2-for-3 and had 15 putouts at first base and Derico also had two hits in three at bats. For Rochester, Sander again had two hits in four at bats, but was the only Yellowjacket to have more than a single safety. Pete Roma (Endicott, NY) earned his team-best fourth win of the season, pitching seven innings and allowing three runs. Mattingly recorded the last six outs for the Knights.