Fisher Takes Two From Stevens At Dugan Yard
The St. John Fisher College baseball team improved to 5-3 in the Empire 8 Conference standings and 25-9 overall after completing the doubleheader-sweep of visiting Stevens Institute of technology on Saturday at Fisher's Dugan Yard.
Game One: Fisher 3, Stevens 2
Justin D'Amato ran into early trouble as Stevens would punch the game's first two runs (both unearned) across on four hits over the first two innings. The senior All-American would settle in after that, allowing just one hit over his next four innings of work.
Fisher, however, would still trail by a single run in the sixth after stranding runners on third base with less than two outs in the second, third, and fifth innings.
The Cardinals would get another chance in the sixth, and this time they would capitalize.
Nick Flemister started the rally with a slow grounder to second that the senior would beat out for a leadoff single. After
Malcolm Kelsey reached on a throwing error from the Ducks' third baseman, Flemister would advance to third on the play and give the Cardinals yet another opportunity. This time, a wild pitch tied the game at 2-2 before
Mike Roman followed with an RBI-single to to score Kelsey and give the Cardinals the lead for good.
With the win, D'Amato improves to 8-1 on the season after throwing six innings, allowing two unearned runs on five hits, and striking out five. Senior
Ryan Smith threw a perfect ninth, including two strikeouts, to pick up his fifth save of the season.
Game Two: Fisher 2, Stevens 0
In the nightcap, Fisher scored single runs in its first and final at-bats of the game to take game two by a score of 2-0.
In the first,
Mike Fahy would reach on an error and advance to second after picking up his 12th stolen base of the season, which ranks second on the team.
Brad Rush followed with an RBI-single to right field that proved to be all the Cardinals would need.
Rush would provide an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth with another RBI-single that scored
Joe Simmons, who led the inning off with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Rush finished the game 2-for-4 with two RBI, while Fahy and Simmons each went 1-for-3 with a run scored. Roman,
Cody Wiktorski, and
Calvin Woolhiser also tallied hits in the victory.
Freshman pitcher
Marc Iseneker was brilliant, scattering just three hits over eight scoreless frames, adding two strikeouts as the Sherrill native improved to 6-1 on the season. With the win, Iseneker lowered his season average of hits allowed per nine innings to just 4.21, which currently leads the nation in that category.
Smith notched his second save of the day and sixth of the year with another scoreless ninth inning to secure the win for the Cardinals.
The two teams will meet again at 12 p.m. on Sunday at Dugan Yard for the final two games of the series.