Two Wins for Ithaca & Stevens; One Win for Fisher
STEVENS v UTICA
The Stevens Institute of Technology baseball program lifted its record to 18-10 overall with a sweep of Utica College in an Empire 8 Conference doubleheader on Sunday. Stevens won Game One, 3-2, and then shutout Utica, 11-0, in the nightcap.
Game One: Stevens 3, Utica 2
Senior
Matt Buccheri tossed six solid innings for the Ducks in the opener and struck out five batters for the win. Buccheri scattered just four hits and allowed two runs with two walks for his second win of the season.
Classmate
Dan Allen made an impact offensively and on the mound for Stevens in Game One. Allen went 2-for-3 at the plate with two runs scored and a double, and then came in to close out the contest with his second save of the season in a hitless seventh inning with one strike out.
Stevens struck first with a run in the top of the fourth on a single from freshman
Bret Viola that scored Allen. Utica answered in the bottom half of the inning and then took the lead with another run in the fifth.
In the top of the sixth, freshman
Michael Mule' scored on a fielding error of the bat of sophomore
Nicholas Sieber to knot the game at 2-2. Viola then picked up his second RBI of the game with a fielder's choice that brought home Allen for the eventual game-winning run.
Junior
Gregg Nickels doubled in three at bats, while junior
Brian Hennelly went 1-for-2 with a walk. Sieber recorded the other hit for Stevens in Game One.
Game Two: Stevens 11, Utica 0
Five pitchers combined for 18 total strikeouts in the night cap, led by nine from sophomore starter
Robert Robbins. Robbins earned the victory in Game Two and gave up just four hits and three walks.
Senior
Mark Poinsett, junior
Peirce Marston and sophomores
Daniel McIntyre and
Ryan Patterson each threw an inning in relief and surrendered just one base runner. Poinsett and Marston each tallied three strike outs, while Patterson fanned two and McIntyre punched out one.
The 18 strikeouts are the most a Stevens staff and compiled in the past three seasons. Before today, 16 punch outs was the single-game high.
Offensively, Stevens scored eight of its 11 runs between the third and fifth innings and capped off the sweep with three more in the ninth.
Sieber batted 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles, two RBI and a run scored, while Allen went 2-for-4 with two runs scored, a stolen base and run scored.
Junior
Marc Calleo, sophomore
Jayson Yano and freshman
Nolan Bennett all collected two hits in the rout. Calleo also walked, scored once and drove in another, while Yano stole a base, scored twice and had one RBI.
Hennelly, sophomore
Tyler Bush and freshman
Harrison Kaye all notched a double. Kaye drove in two runs on his extra base hit.
ITHACA v York (PA)
The Ithaca College baseball team swept a doubleheader from nationally-ranked York College (Pa.) on Sunday at Jaquet Field. Ithaca is ranked 20th by D3baseball.com and 25th by the American Baseball Coaches Association. York is ranked 28th by the ABCA. Ithaca stands at 26-8 on the year and returns to action Wednesday at St. Lawrence. York fell to 25-10
#20 ITHACA 7, #28 YORK 2
Ithaca took the first game behind a strong start by
John Prendergast. The junior right-hander started and pitched a complete game. He improved to 9-0 on the year and has 28 career pitching victories, tied for second in program history with Kyle Sottung '04. Prendergast allowed eight hits over his seven innings with two strikeouts and one walk. One of the two runs he allowed was earned.
Ithaca took a 2-0 lead in the second inning
Christian Brown was hit by a pitch with one out and later scored on a throwing error on a pickoff play.
Josh Savacool had a hit in the inning and scored on a bunt base hit by
Luke Stark.
Two more runs came in for the Bombers in the fifth, on a rally that started with three straight hits.
John Stanley singled and
Tim Henry doubled to put runners in scoring position.
Colby Gee singled to bring in Stanley and
Matt Connolly executed a squeeze bunt for an RBI that allowed Henry to score.
York had runners on the corners with one out in the bottom of the sixth, but a double-play ball allowed Ithaca to escape the inning with a 5-2 lead. Ithaca added a pair of unearned runs in the top of the seventh to account for the final score.
Josh Savacool led Ithaca with three hits and he scored twice. Stark and Stanley had two hits each and each drove in a run. Ithaca had 10 hits in the game and took advantage of three York errors.
#20 ITHACA 8, #28 YORK 5
Ithaca built an 8-0 lead and held on for the victory in the second game of the doubleheader. The Bombers scored once in the first on four hits.
Matt Connolly singled with two outs to bring in
Zach Cole. Two more runs came in the second inning on another two-out hit.
Colby Gee had a single with the bases loaded to bring home Cole and
Luke Stark.
Ithaca added five insurance runs in the top of the sixth. The first two runs came in on a throwing error, Connolly had an RBI single, and
Josh Savacool singled in two runs.
York scored two in the sixth and three in the seventh.
Andrew Sanders got the win on the mound to improve to 5-1 on the season. He pitched five shutout innings, allowing six hits with one walk and one strikeout. Three relievers allowed five runs over the final two innings, two of those runs were unearned.
Four different players had three hits each to help Ithaca pound out 19 hits in the game, with 18 of those hits being singles. Stark, Cole,
Tim Henry and Connolly had three singles each. Stark and Cole each scored twice. Gee, Connolly and Savacool had two RBIs apiece.
ST. JOHN FISHER v Keystone
The nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College baseball program snapped Keystone College's 14-game winning streak on Sunday, as the Cardinals picked up a 9-1 win the second game of doubleheader. The win snaps a four-game losing streak for No. 22 Fisher (23-9), who scored just five runs during its four-game skid. Senior
Justin D'Amato picked up the victory for Fisher, raising his record to 7-1 on the year and 34-5 at Fisher.
Game One: Keystone 6, Fisher 1
Both teams tallied just five hits and one base on balls, but it was the Giants who were timely in their hitting.
Mike Rynerson suffered the loss, allowing five hits over six innings, while striking out six.
Joe Simmons picked up two of Fisher's five hits on the day and scored the team's lone run.
Game Two: Fisher 9, Keystone 1
Fisher scored runs in six of the game's seven inning, including three in the first to take command.
Brad Rush went 2-for-2 with two runs scored and two RBI.
Malcolm Kelsey and
Mike Fahy each scored two runs, while
Cam Allen hit a solo home run in the second inning.
D'Amato was masterful through six innings, as the southpaw allowed just three hits and three walks, while striking out eight.
Ryan Smith pitched a scoreless seventh inning, striking out two batters.