LOUDONVILLE, NY -- Junior outfielder Sam Caruso had three hits and a diving catch with the bases loaded to lead the Union College baseball team to a 6-1 victory over Vassar in an elimination game in the 2013 Liberty League Tournament at Siena Field. Vassar finished the season with an 18-20-1 mark.

Union will face RPI Sunday at 11 a.m. Saturday's scheduled Championship Round was postponed. The Dutchmen (26-12) need to defeat RPI twice on Sunday to win the program's first Liberty League Championship and NCAA automatic playoff bid.

In Union's first game of the day, junior David Peretti had a run-scoring single and junior Joe Bradlee had two hits but baseball fell, 8-1 to Rensselaer in the winner's bracket game.

With Union leading 3-1 after seven, the Brewers loaded the bases and there were two outs in the top of the eighth. But Caruso made a diving catch in center to end the inning and the threat. Seth Roberts improved to 6-1 with a five hit performance in eight innings. He allowed one earned run and struck out three.

Vassar scored the first run on an RBI single by Jason Garfinkle. The Dutchmen tallied three times in the fourth, coming on a two run double by Jeff Grasso and an RBI single by Caruso. Caruso had another RBI single in the eighth, followed by consecutive sacrifice flies by Joe Bradlee and Anders Goetz.

In the opener, Renssealaer's Sean Conroy (7-1) earned the win on the mound for the Engineers, pitching a complete game, allowing eight hits and one earned run, while striking out four in nine innings of work.

With the game tied 1-1, the Engineers scored six runs in the top of the fourth inning to take control of the contest and chase Union starting pitcher Phil Kemp (5-3) from the ballgame. A hit-by-pitch, single and error on a sacrifice by Kemp loaded the bases with no-one out to start the inning.

Eric Kozak walked to give RPI the lead, and leadoff hitter Tyler Listing followed with a two-run single to put the Engineers up 4-1. Kemp was pulled in favor of freshman pitcher Matt Yonta who retired the first batter he faced on a fielder's choice before loading the bases with a one-out walk to TIm LeSuer. Jonny Rio drove in a run with a single and Shane Matthews followed with a fielder's choice to drive in another run. A bases loaded walk by Al Mersman later in the inning gave the Engineers a 7-1 advantage before Yonta struck out RPI's Nick Annunziata to end the frame.

LeSuer's RBI groundout in the top of the fifth inning made it 8-1 Engineers, and Conroy cruised the rest of the way, scattering four hits over the final five innings to close out the game.

Yionta went five innings for Union, allowing just one earned run before giving way to freshman Albert Fiorenza, who pitched a perfect ninth. Peretti's single gave Union the lead in the top of the first inning, as he drove in senior Tyler Heck, who had reached on a two-out double.