LOUDONVILLE, NY – Siena Baseball scored nine unanswered runs punctuated by a six-run sixth to rally past crosstown rival UAlbany 12-7 in midweek action at Connors Park.
 
Eight different players registered hits, seven scored, and seven drove in runs as part of a balanced offensive attack for Siena (7-19, 3-6), which totaled 13 hits. But it was the bottom of the order that came through in the clutch for the Saints, who also made UAlbany (9-14, 3-3) pay for its four errors with six unearned runs.
 
No. 9 hitter Josh Thompson delivered the decisive go-ahead, two-out, two-run single to break a 7-7 tie and cap a six-run sixth. Meanwhile, No. 8 hitter Gunnar Meland stuffed the stat sheet with three runs scored and a pair of RBI and stolen bases apiece. The senior knotted the score in the home half of the sixth, after quelling a Great Danes rally in the top half of the frame by cutting down a potential insurance run with the final out of the inning at home.
 
UAlbany plated five two-out runs in the fourth to claim a 5-2 lead and added a pair to take a 7-3 advantage headed into the home half of the seventh. Levi McAllister homered and knocked in three to lead the Great Danes offensive charge.
 
But Siena batted around sending 11 men to the plate in the decisive sixth despite registering just three hits in the frame. The Saints capitalized on a costly UAlbany error in the frame, as four of the six runs in the inning were unearned.
 
Gavin Thorburn and Louis Percival each recorded a team-high three hits for Siena. Newcomer Marcus Botelho tossed 2.1 solid innings of relief with three strikeouts to earn his first win, while Evan Saulys retired all five batters he faced to record his first save for the Saints.
 
Siena returns to action this weekend when they open a three-game series at new MAAC member Merrimack beginning Friday at 3 p.m. in North Andover, Massachusetts.