The NYU baseball team was in action last Friday and Saturday, dropping two out of three games to Skidmore College in a closely contested series. The games, played at Skidmore, were up and down battles with many lead changes and momentum swings.

The stage was set on Friday, when the teams played two of the series’ first three games in a doubleheader. In game one, the Violets quickly found themselves in the hole as Skidmore scored runs in the first three innings to take a 5-0 lead against freshman starting pitcher Cameron Serapilio-Frank. The Violets narrowed the lead to three in the fifth inning, with RBIs from freshmen Michael Vokulich and Jeremy Wayne. In the sixth inning, the Violets, now down 6-2, came roaring back with three runs to close the gap to one, but could not get the game-tying run across. The Violets left nine runners on base in their 6-5 defeat.

The tide turned in game two as the Violets once again found themselves with an early 1-3 deficit. This time, NYU came all the way back with a sixth inning triple from freshman Jonathan Iaione, which cleared the bases and gave NYU a 6-3 lead.

Violet pitchers also performed well, as freshman Michael Vokulich was able to pitch well after an early mistake, going 5.2 innings for his second victory of the season.

Freshman Matthew Millus further solidified his position as the Violets’ closing pitcher, finishing off Skidmore with a four out save, his fourth of the season.

Saturday’s rubber match was perhaps the most unpredictable of the slate. This time, the Violets started hot, building a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Interestingly, both runs were scored without a hit. After building their lead to five runs heading into the bottom of the sixth, it seemed as if the Violets were in firm control. Skidmore rallied back with an astounding six-run inning, however, taking a 7-6 lead.

The back-and-forth game continued into the seventh, when the Violets once again knotted up the game at seven, but Skidmore proved to be too much, scoring two more in the seventh and one in the eighth to take the third game of the series 10-7.

The Violets have a busy week ahead, and Serapilio-Frank is determined to get on track.

“I think we are realizing what happens when we don’t do the little things right,” Serapilio-Frank said. “So with six games this week, our goal is to win out and to keep winning until we get back to .500 and to make sure we never fall below that win percentage again.”

The Violets, now 7-14, look to bounce back against the College of Mount Saint Vincent on April 7.

A version of this article appeared in the Monday, April 6 print edition. Email Michael Thompson at [email protected].