Plattsburgh, NY – Senior Brandon Barcomb (Cadyville, NY) tripled three times in the opener and reached base in six of his eight plate appearances on the day, but the Clarkson University Baseball team was surprised by Plattsburgh State in a doubleheader on Tuesday, 6-5 in the opener and 6-4 in the nightcap.
The Golden Knights fell to 13-8 with the doubleheader sweep, ending a four-game winning streak. Plattsburgh State moved to 17-9. Clarkson faces Oswego State on Wednesday at Snell Field and then hosts conference rivals Skidmore and Union this weekend.
The Cardinals scored two runs in the first and third inning as Clarkson starter Darrell Carey (Bohemia, NY) struggled to locate his pitches. The Knights responded with a pair of runs in the fourth on a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly from JJ Lorence (Liverpool, NY). Plattsburgh got another run in the bottom of the inning, but Clarkson pulled back to within two when Barcomb scored from third base on a failed pick off attempt at first.
Clarkson came back with two-out, two-run triple from Barcomb in the top of the seventh inning to tie the score, but the Golden Knights couldn’t get the go-ahead run as Barcomb was cut down at the plate after a wild pitch caromed hard back to the catcher who threw to the pitcher a close call at the plate. The Cardinals were held down in the seventh but scored the game-winner on a single by Jon Dumas.
In the second game, the Cardinals produced three runs in the third inning to jump on top, but the Golden Knights came back with runs in the fourth and fifth inning. Tom Lilienthal (Baldwinsville, NY) and Barcomb came through with sacrifice flies to bring Clarkson to within one. However, Plattsburgh scored three more times in the sixth inning to take a 6-2 lead. The Knights didn’t quite and scored two runs on a single from Stefan Casey (Waterbury, VT) but a hard line drive up the middle was turned into a double play to end the game.
Barcomb, who has two or more hits in eight of the last 10 games, finished the day going 4-for-5 with three runs driven in. He also became just the 11th player in the last 30 NCAA Division III seasons to hit three triples in a game. TJ Brinkman (Troy, NY) went 2-for-3 in the first game while Lorence and Rob Cowin (Albany, NY) each went added two hits in the second contest.
