The Hobart baseball team outlasted Clarkson 9-8 in a crucial Liberty League West showdown played at Jefferson Community College Monday. The victory gave the Statesmen a 2-1 series win over the Knights and kept Hobart in the running for a spot the Liberty League Crossover Series.
Senior Owen Sanders and sophomore Sean Garvin and Cole Conte all went 2-for-4. Sanders had two RBIs and a run scored. Conte and Garvin both finished with an RBI and a run.
The Statesmen jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first inning, but saw Clarkson rally to tie the game at 7 in the fifth inning. In the seventh, sophomore Jack Byrnes’ sacrifice fly scored Conte and restored Hobart’s lead. The Statesmen added a need insurance run in the eight when Garvin’s double to the gap in right center scored senior Nate Johnson.
In the top of the ninth, CU got a double, a ground out and a single to cut Hobart’s lead to one. A wild pitch and a flyout to center put the potential tying run on third, but sophomore pitcher Jake Schulte got a flyball in foul territory down the right field line that first-year Jack Farnen ran down for the final out.
Sophomore Chris Lockwood got the win after throwing two scoreless innings and Schulte got a two-inning save.
“It was great to get out to a lead in a must win game,” Hobart Head Coach Brad Cook said. “Clarkson came back with their own punches and it was a fight the rest of the way. I’m proud of our guys for finding a way to win a game we had to have. We controlled what we could and now we wait.”
Hobart improved to 18-15 overall, 8-11 in the Liberty League. More importantly, the Statesmen improved to 7-8 in the Liberty League West taking over fourth place.
The final Liberty League West game will feature St. Lawrence (5-9 LLW) at Rochester (6-8 LLW). If the Saints win, Hobart will be the No. 4 seed in the West for the crossover series. If the Yellowjackets win, they will be the No. 4 seed by virtue of their 2-1 series win over the Statesmen.
Hobart will play a non-conference game at Oswego State (22-11) on Wednesday, April 30. First pitch is set for 4 p.m.
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