Ducks Win; Home Losses for Elmira, Ithaca and Utica
STEVENS 5, RPI 4
The Stevens Institute of Technology baseball team topped Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 5-4 on Thursday.
The Ducks rebounded from a 7-6 setback on Wednesday to Arcadia and improved to 16-10. RPI fell to 14-10.
Sophomore Jeff Sitarski got the Engineers on the board in the home half of the second inning, doubling to left field to plate an unearned runner. Stevens struck for three in the top of the fourth inning with junior
Zeph Walters driving in two runs with a double to left center to score two runs and came around to score on a wild pitch. Senior
Brian Hennelly then drove in another runner on a single down the right field line.
RPI answered back with a three-spot in the bottom of the inning with Sitarski driving in another run with a single and scoring on an RBI single by senior Tim LeSuer. The final run for the Engineers touched home on a bases loaded hit by pitch.
The Ducks bullpen was solid after the fourth inning, tossing five shutout innings while only allowing two hits and two walks. They were able to take lead in the top of the eighth inning with junior
Nick Sieber singling on an 0-1 pitch to score junior
Jayson Yano who reached on a hit by pitch. Junior
Ryan Patterson came in retired the side in the bottom of the ninth in five pitches to record his seventh save.
Sieber went 3-for-4 with an RBI while Walters and Hennelly each had two hits. Yano got the win in relief, throwing two innings striking out three with sophomore
Bret Viola fanning four in his two innings of relief. Junior
Robert Robbins started and punched out seven in four innings, allowing four unearned runs.
Sitarski had three hits with two RBI's and LeSuer reached base four times, drawing two walks and collecting two hits.
Rochester 5, ITHACA 4
Despite 15 strikeouts from its pitching staff, the Ithaca College baseball team ended up on the wrong end of a 5-4 outcome to Rochester at Freeman Field on Thursday afternoon. It was Ithaca's home opener for 2015 and the Bombers are now 8-9 on the season.
Senior
Zach Dickstein started on the mound for Ithaca and struck out six batters with no walks over five innings. Dickstein allowed seven hits and one earned run in a no decision. Junior
Benji Parkes also fanned six hitters with no walks in 2.2 innings of relief. Senior
Jimmy Wagner punched out three Yellowjackets in 1.1 innings of work and took the loss.
In the bottom of the first, sophomore
Josh Savacool led off with a double and then junior
Zach Cole singled to put runners on the corners with no outs. Both runners were retired on the next at bat on a fielder's choice – Cole was thrown out at second and Savacool attempted to score, but was gunned down at home.
Rochester threatened in the second on back-to-back hits with no outs. After a failed sacrifice bunt went down as a strikeout, the Yellowjacket runners moved up on a balk. Senior
Cooper Belyea then picked off Rochester's runner at third, and then a ground out to first ended the inning.
The Bombers would take the first lead of the game in the bottom half of the second on an infield single from Savacool that plated junior
Stephen Yanchus with the bases loaded.
Yanchus started the inning with a single to center field and advanced to second on a throwing error. Senior
Matt Connolly doubled in the next at bat and senior
Christian Brown walked to fill the bases. Two consecutive infield flies were recorded before Savacool's single.
Ithaca took a 3-0 lead on a two-run single to center from Connolly in the bottom of the third that brought Thompson and Pidgeon home. Thompson and Pidegon both singled to begin the inning and moved into scoring position on a long fly out by Yanchus.
Rochester got one run back in the fourth on a one-out double, but left two runners in scoring position.
In the top of the sixth, Rochester placed runners on second and third with no outs which forced Dickstein out of the game. The first two Yellowjackets reached base on a single and error after a strikeout in the dirt.
Parkes entered in relief and struck out all three batters he faced with runners on second and third.
A bases loaded walk to Savacool in the bottom of the sixth added one more run to Ithaca's lead, 4-1. Brown scored on the free pass after reaching on a one-out double. Ithaca would end up leaving the bases loaded after a strikeout and fly out.
Rochester battled back with four runs in the top of the eighth to take a 5-4 lead. The inning started with a strikeout-wild pitch and followed with four singles – the last base hit drove in two runs.
Ithaca had an opportunity to tie or take the lead in the eighth on a blooper off the bat of junior
John Stanley to left, but a diving catch ended the frame and kept the score at 5-4. The Bombers had runners on second and third on the play.
One runner reached for the Bombers in the ninth but could not advance past first.
Savacool, Yanchus, Connolly and Boresta all notched two hits each. Savacool and Connolly also drove in two runs apiece.
D'Youville v ELMIRA
The Elmira College baseball team dropped a pair of non-conference games to visiting D'Youville College this afternoon at Dunn Field. Elmira nearly picked up their second win of the season in game one but the Spartans of D'Youville would prevail in extra innings, 7-4. Game two was all D'Youville, as the Spartans claimed a 15-4 victory.
Game One: D'Youville 7, Elmira 4 (F/9)
The Spartan bats got to Elmira's pitchers early as D'Youville scored four runs in the first two innings, including a three-run first inning. Elmira scored two of their four runs in the bottom of the first thanks to an RBI sacrifice fly by
Jack Thistle '18 and an RBI single by
Brian Wehmeyer '17.
D'Youville's four runs forced an Elmira pitching change as
Alexander Taulien '17 came in for relief duty in the third inning. The switch by Coach
Corey Paluga turned out to be a good one as Taulien held the Spartans scoreless over the next five innings.
Taulien's efforts on the mound kept Elmira in the game long enough to see the Soaring Eagles even today's contest at 4-4 in the bottom of the sixth inning, when
Hayden Rothenberg '17 singled up the middle with two outs, scoring
Dennis Rudolph '18 and
Dylan Bellinger '17.
After driving in the tying run, Rothenberg would make his way to third base on a pair of wild pitches, putting himself in scoring position for EC's next batter, Thistle. Unfortunately, on a 3-2 count, Thistle would commit the inning's final out as he grounded out to the D'Youville second baseman.
A scoreless seventh inning by both teams kept the game at 4-4 at which point Coach Paluga would opt to bring in another pitcher, this time rookie hurler Connor Baiwec '18, who was making his collegiate debut. Baiwec, who began the game as EC's designated hitter, retired the first three batters he saw which included one strikeout.
Elmira looked to sneak away with the win in the bottom of the eighth as they put runners on the corners with two outs. However, Thistle would strikeout on four pitches as D'Youville starting pitcher Kyle Taylor forced a ninth inning.
In the ninth, the Spartans put three of their first four batters on base, loading the bases for Louis Reynolds who would break the 4-4 tie with a two-run single. D'Youville would tack-on another run in the inning to take a 7-4 lead into the bottom half of the ninth.
Trailing by three runs, Elmira saw their first two batters retired on back-to-back ground outs, as a Spartan victory looked all but wrapped-up.
Then, Wehmeyer would extend the inning as he worked a two-out walk, allowing
Bryce Plante '18 and
Rey Colon '18 to reach safely on an error and a single, respectively. With the bases full, Bellinger stepped to the plate looking to keep the rally going but he would fly out on a 1-0 count as the Spartans marched away with a 7-4 win.
Game Two: D'Youville 15, Elmira 4
Elmira came out of the gates fast in game two as the Purple and Gold jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Bawiec drove in the game's opening run as he laced the first pitch he saw through the right side of D'Youville's infield, scoring Rothenberg from third base.
Harrison Leslie '18 drove-in the other run of the inning, bringing home Bawiec with two outs.
The Elmira lead was short-lived however, as the Spartans score three runs in the top of the second inning, which sparked the D'Youville offense to score 13 consecutive runs scored by over the next four innings. EC scored two more times in the game but so would D'Youville as the Soaring Eagles dropped game two, 15-4.
Cazenovia 13, UTICA 5