Highlanders and Bombers Win
HOUGHTON 16, UTICA 14
The Houghton College baseball team won 16-14 against the Utica College Pioneers Monday afternoon.
The Highlanders were led by
Joseph Gilligan (Ringwood, NJ, Lakeland Regional),
Garret Kirkpatrick (York, PA, Central York), and
Michael Knapp (Brockport, NY, Brockport). Gilligan went three for five with five RBI, Kirkpatrick went two for five with three RBI, and Knapp went three for seven with two RBI.
Victor Cavalieri (Rochester, NY, Northstar Christian) earned his second win of the year for the Highlanders and James Richards was credited with the loss.
The win makes the Highlanders 16-18 and the Pioneers are now 17-12.
The Highlanders got on the board first in the top of the second when Gilligan hit a single to right field that scored Unverdorben from second. Next batter
Bryan Hodge (Thornton, CO, Community Christian) came up and hit a double into the gap in right center that scored Gilligan from first and gave the Highlanders a 2-0 lead.
The Pioneers put five runs on the board in the bottom half of the inning on four hits.
The Highlanders regained the lead in the top of the third when Kirkpatrick hit a two RBI single that gave the highlanders a 6-5 lead.
The Highlanders added to their lead in the fourth when Knapp scored on a wild pitch by and then
Trenton Unverdorben (Portville, NY, Portville) hit a RBI double to give the Highlanders a three run lead.
The Pioneers put up a crooked number in the bottom of the fourth scoring six runs on four hits, but once again the Highlanders fought right back in the fifth. The Highlanders scored five runs on four hits highlighted by Gilligan's two RBI double and Kirkpatrick's RBI single, which gave the Highlanders a 13-11 lead.
The Pioneers cut the lead to just two runs after scoring two in the in the bottom half of the inning, but the Highlanders offense continued to produce runs scoring two runs when
Michael Kerr (Brentwood, TN, Hamburg ) hit a RBI single and
Tage Johnson (Jamestown, NY, Frewsburg) hit a RBI double.
The Pioneers added on another run in the sixth to make the score 15-14 after six innings of play.
After a scoreless seventh the Highlanders added on another run in the top of the eighth when the Pioneers committed an error that allowed Kerr to score from third.
ITHACA 8, ELMIRA 4
The Ithaca College baseball team got back in the win column with an 8-4 home victory over Elmira on Monday afternoon at Freeman Field. Ithaca levels its record at 13-13 on the season and reached double-digit hits in a contest for the 12th time.
Junior
Ryan Contegni earned the start for the Bombers on the mound and was perfect through 3.2 innings before giving up his first hit. Contegni tossed the longest outing of his career with eight innings pitched and struck out a career-best seven batters. He walked just one on the afternoon and scattered five hits.
Ithaca got on the board first with three runs in the bottom of the second inning. Senior
Matt Connolly led off with a hit by pitch and later scored on an RBI fielder's choice from freshman Domenic Boresta. The next run scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of sophomore
Josh Savacool that plated senior
Christian Brown. Boresta scored the final run from third on a failed pick off at first base.
The Bombers increased their lead to 4-0 with a run in the fourth on an RBI single from senior
Joey Randazzo. Brown came around to score after a lead-off double. Ithaca had a chance to plate more runs in the frame, but left the bases loaded.
In the bottom of the sixth, sophomore
Trevor Thompson drove in Savacool on a base hit to left field to give Ithaca a 5-0 advantage. Thompson then came home on a single through the right side from junior
Zach Pidgeon in the next at bat.
Two more runs crossed for Ithaca in the seventh on back-to-back wild pitches. Freshman
Brennan McCormack led off with single and advanced to third on a base hit from junior Cameron Oathouht, who moved up to second on a throw. Both runners would score on the errant pitches.
Elmira put together a four-run rally in the ninth on one hit, two walks and two Ithaca errors.
Five different Bombers drove in a run on Monday, while Thompson and Brown both collected two hits.