Elmira Earns First Win; Fisher Wins Twice; Canton Splits
ELMIRA v HOUGHTON
History was made Saturday evening at one of the most historical sites in Elmira, NY, Dunn Field, as the Elmira College baseball team earned their first win as a collegiate program with a 9-5 victory over visiting Houghton College. Elmira's historical win came in the second game of an Empire 8 Conference doubleheader against Houghton, a team the Soaring Eagles were facing for a fourth time this season.
Game One Recap
After a scoreless first inning the Highlanders got on the board in the top of the second.
Patrick Parsons (Wellsboro, PA, Wellsboro) led the inning off with a single to right.
Trenton Unverdorben (Portville, NY, Portville) walked to put runners on first and second. Then
Tage Johnson (Jamestown, NY, Frewsburg) singled to advance the runners and load the bases.
Joseph Gilligan (Ringwood, NJ, Lakeland Regional) hit a sac fly to left field that allowed Parsons to score from third. Back to back RBI singles by
Bryan Hodge (Thornton, CO, Community Christian) and
Christopher McKay (Oakville, ON, Canada, Homeschool)scored two more runs and
Enrico Sukhdeo (Georgetown, Guyana, Ashbrook) hit a sac fly allowed Hodge to score from third giving the Highlanders a 4-0 lead.
After scoreless third and fourth innings the Highlanders rallied in the fifth. The Soaring Eagles pitching walked a run in bringing up
Michael Kerr (Brentwood, TN, Hamburg ) with the bases loaded. Kerr hit a two RBI single that scored
Michael Knapp (Brockport, NY, Brockport) and Sukhdeo. Then with two outs and the bases juiced again Johnson hit a base clearing double into right center giving the Highlanders an 11-0 lead.
In the bottom of the sixth the Soaring Eagles scored five runs on five hits and took advantage of two Highlanders' errors.
In the top of the seventh the Highlanders added on some insurance scoring four runs on three hits.
In the box score the Highlanders were led by Johnson who went three for five with five RBI.
The win was credited to
Kevin Cassar (Mississauga, ON, Canada, Our Lord of Mount Carmel) who pitched six innings only allowing two earned runs. The loss was given to Davis Salzman of Elmira.
Game Two Recap
The second game of today's twinbill was significantly different for the Soaring Eagles, much of which had to do with the efforts on the mound by EC starting pitcher
Dennis Rudolph '18. Rudolph tossed 8.1 innings of three-run ball, striking out five batters in the process of earning his first collegiate win. He threw 135 pitches, 99 of which were strikes, as he was able to get nine batters to fly out and another nine to ground out.
Offensively, Elmira saw two players log multi-hit games, including
Dylan Bellinger '17 and
Jack Thistle '18. Bellinger went 2-for-3 with two RBI, one run scored, and one intentional walk. Thistle on the other hand went 2-for-5 with two RBI and three runs scored.
Elmira took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning as Thistle brought-in Shepardson from third base. Shepardson began the inning by reaching safely on a throwing error by Houghton's third baseman, an error that let him reach third base, allowing Thistle to bring him in for the game's first run.
The Soaring Eagles tacked on three more in the bottom of the third inning to take a 4-0 lead. Marquez began the four-run inning with a hot shot up the middle before being moved over the second base thanks to sacrifice bunt by fellow infielder
Rey Colon '18. Shepardson was EC's next batter and would reach safely on an infield single, putting runners on the corners for Thistle.
From there, Thistle would reach on an error which scored Marquez from third and moved Shepardson to second. EC's next batter, Rothenberg, would advance both runners an extra base on a deep fly out to right field, putting them in scoring position for Bellinger.
With two outs, Bellinger took the second pitch he saw and laced it into center field, scoring both Shepardson and Rothenberg to give the Purple and Gold a 4-0 lead.
Ahead 4-0, Rudolph continued to shut down the Highlander batters, and in the fourth inning he let his fielders show off some of their defensive skills. With one out, Houghton's Michael Kerr doubled to right field, putting a runner in scoring position for just the second time in the game. However, on the next-at bat, Patrick Parsons lined one directly to EC second baseman Colon, who after snagging the ball out of the air, made a quick throw to
Bryce Plante '18 for an inning-ending double play.
In the bottom of the fourth, Elmira's designated hitter,
Alexander Taulien '17, delivered one of the biggest hits in the program's young history as he sent the first pitch he saw over the left field wall for EC's first-ever home run. Taulien's solo shot gave the Soaring Eagles a 5-0 lead, but more importantly, it put all of the momentum on Elmira's side.
Houghton cut into Elmira's lead for the first time in the top of the fifth thanks to a two-out RBI double by Garret Kirkpatrick, putting the score at 5-1. However, Elmira answered in the bottom half of the inning with an RBI sacrifice fly by
Brian Wehmeyer '17 that scored Thistle from third, putting EC on top 6-1.
The sixth inning would see the Highlanders cut the Soaring Eagle lead in half, 6-3, as an RBI single and double allowed for a pair of Houghton players to cross home plate.
Elmira clung to their three-run lead until the bottom of the seventh, when the Purple and Gold opened the game up with a three-run inning to take a 9-3 lead, the largest EC lead that late in a game. The Soaring Eagles put their first three runners on base safely, as Wehmeyer stepped to the plate with the bases loaded.
With the bases full and the potential for Elmira to blow the game wide open, the pressure got to Houghton as Edward Monthie let one of his pitches get away from him, allowing Thistle to score from third on the wild pitch. Now with runners on second and third, Wehmeyer laced a shot into right center field, scoring both Haydenberg and Bellinger to give EC an intimidating 9-3 lead.
Houghton once again tried to rally in the eighth as they began the inning with a lead-off single and would put another runner on base thanks to a two-out walk. However, with two outs, Rudolph would get Houghton's Joseph Gilligan to strike out on three pitches, ending the Highlander threat.
Still leading 9-3 in the top of the ninth, Elmira looked to close the door on the Highlanders and walk away with their first collegiate win. Rudolph, who remained in the game in the ninth, would get the first Houghton batter to ground out but walked the next batter, forcing Coach Paluga to make a pitching change, as he opted to have lefty hurler
Zack Stone '18 close-out today's game.
Stone saw the first two batters he faced reach safely on a walk and a single, as Houghton cut the score to 9-4. He would however get the next Highlander batter to ground out but Houghton scored on the play, cutting Elmira's lead to 9-5 with two outs.
Houghton again showed their resilience as they had their next two batters reach safely on an infield single and a walk, loading the bases for pinch hitter Brett Rapan. With the potential game-tying run at the plate, Elmira fans were anxious to see just one more out occur. They wouldn't have to wait long as Stone froze Rapan on his fifth pitch of the at-bat, as he recorded a strikeout to seal Elmira's first win of the season, a 9-5 victory.
ST. JOHN FISHER v Utica
Playing its first two games at Dugan Yard this year, the St. John Fisher College baseball program picked up two wins over visiting Utica College on Saturday. The Cardinals (8-14) snapped a six-game skid with a 4-1 win in the first game, and in the nightcap, Fisher tallied 15 runs and 20 hits (both season-highs) in a 15-8 victory over the Pioneers. Fisher will host Utica for another doubleheader starting at noon on Sunday.
Game One – Fisher 4, Utica 1
Pitcher
Stephen Lewis went all seven innings to earn his first career win in the mound. The southpaw scattered six hits, while striking out four and allowing just one unearned run.
The Cardinals tallied just six hits in the game, but managed to score a run in the first, second, fourth and fifth innings.
Matthew Cahill scored two runs and added a base hit.
Joe Simmons and
Shane Barley each delivered RBI-singles, while freshman
Scott Eisenmenger hit his third home run of the year – a towering solo shot over the fence in left-center.
Game Two - Fisher 15, Utica 8
Fisher jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, and pulled away late, scoring 10 more runs in its final three at-bats.
Mike Roman,
Joe Simmons,
Shane Barley and
Cody Wiktorski each finished the game with three hits. Roman hit a two-run homer and scored three runs, while Barley tallied a team-high four RBI.
Simmons and Wiktorski each doubled and scored two runs.
Freshman
Jack Vivinetto finished with three RBI, including a two-run homer, the first of his career.
Cahill added two hits and two RBI, while
Nate Roethel and Eisenmenger each doubled in a run and scored a run.
Freshman
Loukas Brigham earned his first career win, going seven innings with one earned run and a career-high eight strikeouts.
CANTON
The SUNY Canton baseball team received four hits from
Wilson Matos and a strong pitching performance from
Robbie Osterer (Ottawa, ON) to earn a split with host St. Lawrence University on Saturday. The Roos (6-14) took the opening game 8-3 before the Saints (9-9) claimed a 4-0 victory in the nightcap.
Game 1
The Roos got on the board first in the top of the third when Matos drove in
Jesse Barton (Belle Glade, FL) on a sacrifice fly to right field. The Saints took a 2-1 lead on a 2 RBI single in the bottom half of the inning.
SUNY Canton responded with four runs in the top half of the fourth.
Christian Nazario-Cruz (Naguabo, Puerto Rico) reached on an error scoring
Nicolas Demarais (Plattsburgh, NY). Matos used a base hit to left center to plate Nazario-Cruz and
Greg Dobies (Schenectady, NY).
Seth Douglas (Reedsburg, WI) followed with an RBI on an infield single to short.
St. Lawrence got one run back in the bottom of the fifth, but the Roos continued to flash hot bats adding one run in the sixth and two more in the seventh. Dobies used an RBI single to bring home
Chris Jones (Deerfield Beach, FL) in the sixth.
Jeremy Baez (Bronx, NY) and
Brandon Welch (Constable, NY) each had an RBI in the seventh.
Osterer scattered eight hits and two earned runs over seven innings for his first win. He struck out seven batters and walked five.
John Mancini (Scotia, NY) tossed two innings of two hit ball without giving up a run in relief.
Game 2
The Saints received a dominant pitching performance in the nightcap as Sam Downes pitched a five-hit shutout and Mark Syron double in two runs for St. Lawrence University.
The Roos received hits from Nazario-Cruz, Matos, Welch, Dobies and Barton but were unable to get on the board. The hosts scored one run in the third and added three in the fifth to snap a nine game losing streak.
Zach Lawrence (West Palm Beach, FL) scattered eight hits over six innings giving up four earned runs for SUNY Canton.