Ithaca Bats Come Alive; Houghton Sweeps St. John Fisher
ITHACA v NEW PALTZ
The Ithaca College baseball team totaled 18 runs in a doubleheader sweep at New Paltz on Saturday afternoon. 20th-ranked Ithaca won the first game 7-2 and the second game 11-1. Ithaca will continue its season with a doubleheader Sunday at York College (Pa.). The host Spartans are ranked 28th by the American Baseball Coaches Association. Ithaca is now 24-8 on the year.
Game 1
Luke Stark led off the game with a solo home run and Ithaca never trailed. The Bombers added single runs in the second and third innings to build a 3-0 lead. A
Cooper Belyea ground out brought in
Matt Connolly in the second and a sacrifice fly by
Brian Burns in the third scored
John Stanley.
New Paltz pulled back into the contest with single runs in the fourth and fifth innings to make it 3-2, but Ithaca added two runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh to account for the final score. Connolly scored on a wild pitch in the sixth and Belyea singled in
Christian Brown. In the seventh, Brown singled to bring in
Tim Henry and an error on the play also allowed
Cameron Oathout to score.
Benji Parkes started for Ithaca and picked up his third victory of the season to improve to 3-3. In the complete-game effort he allowed two runs, just one earned, on seven hits. He walked two batters and struck out four. Ithaca had eight hits in the game, two each by Stark and Brown.
Game 2
Ithaca started quickly with three runs in the first inning and went on to a lopsided win.
Tim Henry had an RBI single in the first inning and both he and
Zach Cole scored on an infield error by New Paltz.
In the fourth,
Colby Gee hit a solo home run to left field. It was his team-leading fourth homer of the season. Ithaca tacked on two in the sixth and five in the seventh.
Trevor Thompson hit a two-run homer in the sixth, his first home run of the season. In the five-run seventh,
Matt Connolly and
Christian Brown each had two-run doubles.
David Jasukonis started on the mound and earned the win with a complete game. He allowed one run in the seventh inning. He allowed four hits in the game, walked four, and had five strikeouts. He is 2-0 on the season.
HOUGHTON v ST. JOHN FISHER
The Highlanders used clutch plays and strong performances on the mound to send #22 St. John Fisher to two losses in baseball action Saturday.
Houghton won game one, 3-2, and closed the four-game series with a 3-1 win in the nightcap. The wins gave the Highlanders a 3-1 record against the Cardinals in the four games.
Game one started with Fisher going up 1-0 after the first and making the score 2-0 in the top of the sixth. The Highlanders, held to one hit through the first five innings, got a runner on board in the sixth when Mike Kerr was hit by a pitch. The junior stole second and then scored on a double by Brett Rapan.
After dispatching the Cardinals 1-2-3 in the top of the seventh, Houghton went into their last at bat looking for two runs. A strike out and ground out by the first two Highlander hitters put the comeback in doubt. But four straight singles propelled the team to the win. Chris McKay got the first hit, then moved to second on a Mike Knapp single. Tommy Walker singled to drive home McKay and advance Knapp to second. Kerr finished it off with a walk-off single that drove home Knapp and started a celebration in the Houghton dugout.
Seth Cornell was strong for the full seven innings, allowing just two runs on four hits and striking out three.
Six different Highlanders picked up hits.
Riding high after two consecutive wins over the Cardinals, including Friday's 11-9 victory, Houghton jumped ahead 2-0 after the first inning in game two. Brett Rapan doubled to bring home Mike Kerr and Bryan Hodge rapped a base hit to score Trent Unverdorben.
After three scoreless innings, the Cardinals pulled within one with a run in the top of the fifth. Both teams managed to get players on base over the next two innings, but no runner was able to advance past second base. After reliever Chad Muise retired the Cardinals 1-2-3 in the top of the eighth, the Highlanders added a run to their lead in the bottom half of the inning. Pat Parsons led off with a single and advanced to third on back to back ground outs. Parsons then came home on a Knapp double.
A lead-off walk put a Fisher runner on base to start the ninth, but the next batter flied out to center, and the game ended on a 6-4-3 double play to give the hosts the 3-1 win.
Jared Knowlton delivered a solid seven innings on the mound. spreading out seven hits and allowing just one run. He walked one and struck out one. Muise didn't give up a hit over his two innings of work.
Houghton batters produced 12 hits. Knapp, Walker, Kerr, Rapan and Hodge had two hits each.