AUBURN, N.Y. -- The Ithaca College baseball team scored 10 runs in the seventh and eighth innings and advanced in the winner's bracket of the 2013 NCAA Division III Baseball New York Regional with an 11-2 win over Moravian in the opening round of the tournament. Ithaca improved to 35-6 on the season and Moravian fell to 24-18. The Bombers advance to face Farmingdale on Thursday, May 16 with a scheduled start time of 4:30 p.m.
Starting pitcher Pat Lemmo (10-0) pitched an efficient complete game to pick up his 10th victory of the season. He threw just 84 pitches over nine innings, with 60 of those going for strikes. He allowed nine hits and just one of the two runs to cross was earned. Lemmo had two strikeouts, which both came on back-to-back hitters to end a Moravian threat in the fourth when the Greyhounds had runners at first and third.
The Bombers took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on an RBI single by Colby Gee to bring in Christian Brown, but it was all the Bombers could muster until the seventh. Meanwhile, Moravian tied the game with an unearned run in the fifth and took a 2-1 lead in the top of the seventh on a sacrifice fly.
That lead was short-lived as Ithaca scored four times in the bottom of the seventh. Luke Stark had an RBI single to tie the game and later came in to score on a two-run single by Brown to bring home Stark and pinch-runner Cameron Oathout. A sac fly from Tim Locastro brought home the Bombers' fourth run of the inning.
Ithaca added six more in the bottom of the eighth as Colby Gee had a two-run double and Corey Caswell had a two-run single.
Ithaca totaled 11 hits in the game, with seven of those coming in the big innings in the seventh and eighth. Brown, Gee and Andrew Turner had two hits each. Gee drove in three runs, and Brown and Caswell had two RBIs. Locastro reached base three times on a walk and was also hit by pitches in two at-bats. He had a stolen base to increase his season-total to 33.
The Bombers, making their 35th NCAA Division III tournament appearance, won their 97th all-time game in NCAA Division III tournament play. Ithaca has appeared in 45 tournaments across all divisions.
Box Score and Play-by-Play
Locastro feature in Auburn Citizen
NCAA Tournament N.Y. Regional Site