100 Career Wins; Utica Sweeps; Ithaca and Elmira Walk-off

4/29/2015 10:30:00 PM

STEVENS v Farmingdale State
Head Coach Kristaps Aldins recorded his 100^th career victory as the Stevens Institute of Technology baseball team upended Farmingdale State 3-0 on Wednesday.
 
If you love great pitching, this was the game for you, as pitchers on both sides squandered a combined eight hits throughout the afternoon. The Ducks (26-10) got on the board in the top of the third as junior Jonathan Toro laced a one out double to center field. A wild pitch moved him 90 feet closer, and he was brought on a ball that was booted by the third basemen, giving freshman Tommy Baronner an RBI.
 
Stevens tacked on the final two runs of the contest in the top of the sixth. Junior Jayson Yano hit a single right back through the box and advanced two bases on a double to right by fellow junior Nick Sieber. After an intentional walk to senior Brian Hennelly, sophomore Michael Mule' also drew a walk which brought home Yano. Finally, sophomore Nolan Bennett delivered a sacrifice fly to right to bring in the game's final tally.
 
Yano, the reigning Empire 8 Conference and ECAC player of the week, was brilliant on the mound today, as he twirled five and two thirds hitless innings before a slow hit single by Dan Lombardo broke up the no-no bid. He tossed six innings, allowing just the one hit while striking out five and walking three. Senior Peirce Marston threw a perfect seventh inning, striking out one.
 
The Rams (16-15) threatened in the bottom of the eighth, as a walk to Ryan Jordan and a single up the middle by PJ Harrington put men on first and second with only one out. But junior Danny McIntyre struck out the next two hitters to end the threat. Once again, Farmingdale put two runners on in the bottom of the ninth, but junior Ryan Patterson got three fly outs to record his ninth save of the year.
 
Sieber had two hits while Toro, Yano and Bennett also recorded hits.
 
Spencer Prusack started and went three innings allowing one run, and Dalton McCarthy tossed three innings out of the bullpen, allowing two runs striking out three.


UTICA v Keuka
The Utica College baseball team swept Keuka College Wednesday afternoon, 8-5 and 10-8, at the UC Baseball Field.  Catcher Thomas Dinnen (Cortlandt Manor, NY/Walter Panas ) put together a 6-for-7 day at the plate with five RBI and two runs to lead the Pioneers.

UC improves to 19-13 and returns to the diamond Friday when it welcomes Cazenovia College to the UC Baseball Field for Senior Day.  First pitch is set for 4 p.m.  The Pioneers need two more wins to tie the most wins in a season in 24 years.  The 1991 Pioneers went 21-8.

The Wolfpack falls to 12-23 overall and heads to Cazenovia on Saturday for a NEAC doubleheader (1 p.m.)

Utica 8, Keuka 5 – Game One Final
After two quiet innings, the Pioneers opened up the scoring in the bottom of the third as they batted around the order scoring four runs on seven hits.  UC used back-to-back RBI doubles by Benjamin Hobaica (Clinton, NY/Clinton) and Ryan Watson (Deerfield, NY/Whitesboro) followed by five consecutive singles to take a 4-0 lead.

Keuka answered with four runs of its own over the next two innings as it scored one in fourth and three in the fifth to knot up the contest, 4-4.

UC regained its three run edge in the bottom of the frame with the help of three straight base on balls including two hit batters. Adam Pexton (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) drove in the go ahead run on a sacrifice fly followed by a Jake Ryan (Kingston, NY/Kingston) two RBI single through the right side as Utica moved to a 7-4 lead.

The Pioneers added an insurance run in the sixth before closing out the game one victory, 8-5.

Stephen Szatko (Sauquoit, NY/Sauquoit Valley) tossed his fourth complete game of the season as he improved to 6-2. Szatko allowed six hits and four runs while fanning three in the win.

Hobaica, Watson and Thomas Dinnen (Cortlandt Manor, NY/Walter Panas ) led the UC offense each with two hits and a combined five RBI and three runs scored.  Dinnen added three RBI while Watson chipped in with two RBI and two doubles.

Utica 10, Keuka 8 – Game Two Final
The second and third innings featured a combined 10 runs with the visitors holding a 6-4 advantage headed into the midway point.  KC added two more in the top of the fourth as it moved to an 8-4 lead.

Designated hitter Matthew DeMartino (Oceanside, NY/Oceanside) cracked a two-run homer down the left field line in the second for the Pioneers first two runs.  In the third, Thomas Dinnen (Cortlandt Manor, NY/Walter Panas ) drove in two runs on an infield single as UC trailed by four runs.

Utica added three scores in the bottom of the fifth and another three in the sixth as it worked its first lead of game two and went on to earn the afternoon sweep.

Joshua Webb (Verona, NY/VVS) came out of the bullpen to earn his fourth victory of the season on the mound. Webb improved to 4-3 as he worked 2.2 innings allowing just one hit.

Dinnen went 4-for-4 for the second time this season and added a triple, two runs scored and two RBI in the game two victory.


ITHACA v St. Lawrence
The Ithaca College baseball team walked-off with a 5-4 victory in 11 innings against St. Lawrence on Wednesday evening at Onondaga Community College. Ithaca is now 15-13 on the season with three games left on the schedule.

Ithaca came away with the win a single and throwing error. With runners on first and second, junior Stephen Yachus notched a base hit to centerfield, which St. Lawrence's outfielder made a diving catch on, but the ball trickled out of his glove. Senior Christian Brown, who was on second, took off for third and an errant throw allowed Brown to come home for the game-winning run.

St. Lawrence plated the game's opening run on a double to left-centerfield that scored a runner from first in the top of the second inning with no outs.

The Saints lead grew to 2-0 on another double that rolled to the right-center wall in the fourth with a runner on first. Another run crossed for St. Lawrence in the fifth after a stolen base scored on a single up the middle. A pair of throwing errors by the Bombers led to another run for St. Lawrence in the seventh inning to make it a 4-0 game.

In the bottom of the sixth, junior Zach Cole reached on a one-out double that got lost in the lights and then senior Brian Burns followed with a single. Burns attempted to steal, but was thrown out during a strikeout to end the inning.

The Bombers got on the board in the bottom of the eight on back-to-back doubles from sophomoreTrevor Thompson and Yanchus. Thompson doubled down the right field line and Yanchus brought him in on a drive down the left field line. St. Lawrence's lead was cut in half, 4-2, on an RBI single from Cole that scored Yanchus on the next at bat. Freshman Domenic Boresta stepped to the plate next and stroked a triple to the right-center gap which plated freshman pinch runner Ryan Dougherty. Ithaca knotted the game up at 4-4 as Boresta scored on a base hit from senior Matt Connolly after a pitching change.

Ithaca had a chance to end the game in the bottom of the ninth after the bases were loaded on walks, but the final out was retired on a strikeout looking to force extra innings.

Senior Andrew Sanders started on the mound for Ithaca and gave up one run on three hits. JuniorBenji Parkes threw the next three innings and struck out two, while allowing four hits and two runs.

Senior Jimmy Wagner fired five innings in a winning effort with three strikeouts.


ELMIRA v Cazenovia
 It took a full nine innings to decide tonight's winner, but when it was all said and done, it would be the Elmira College baseball team who came away with a win as they edged visiting Cazenovia College in walk-off fashion, 8-7.  Conor Bawiec '18 delivered the game-winning walk-off hit as his ninth inning bloop single to center field scored Rey Colon '18 to give the Soaring Eagles their second win in as many days. 
 
Tonight's nine-inning seesaw battle featured four lead changes and two ties, with the latest tie occurring in the top of the eighth inning when the Wildcats of Cazenovia closed a two-run gap to tie things up at 7-7.  Tonight's contest also saw both teams register 10-plus hits, 11 for Elmira and 10 for Cazenovia, as well as eight errors split evenly at four apiece.
 
Alexander Taulien '17 got the start on the mound for Elmira tonight and tossed a full 7.0 innings while striking out a career-high seven batters. Taulien allowed five runs, only one of which was earned, as he threw a career-high 107 pitches, marking the first time in nine appearances he has thrown over 100 pitches.
 
Although Taulien had a superb outing, he did not earn the win tonight.  Relief pitcher Nick Sampogna '18 did however earn his first collegiate win after going 1.1 innings, thowing only 14 pitches to register the four outs needed to close out the Wildcats. 
 
The Soaring Eagles saw four players log multi-hit performances, including Hayden Rothenberg '17, Dylan Bellinger '17,Dennis Rudolph '18, and Jack Thistle '18.  Rothenberg went 2-for-5 with one RBI while Bellinger went 2-for-4 with two RBI, one intentional walk, and one run scored.  Rudolph was 2-for-3 with one run scored and Thistle went 2-for-3 with a career-high three RBI. 
 
The Wildcats took the game's first lead in the top of the second inning on an RBI single by Arek Olson but EC responded the bottom half of the inning with a two-out single by Thistle.  Thistle's single through the middle of Cazenovia's infield scored Bawiec and Nate Hanner '18, who reached safely to lead off the inning after being hit by pitches.
 
Elmira held their 2-1 lead through the next inning but two very costly errors in the top of the fourth inning allowed Cazenovia to plate four runs, all of which were unearned.
 
Trailing 5-2, Elmira began to chip away at the Wildcat lead in the bottom half of the fourth thanks to a pair of Cazenovia errors that put EC runners in scoring position for Thistle, who delivered an RBI single that trimmed the lead to 5-3.  Later in the inning, an infield single by Rothenberg drove-in Will Jenkins '18 from third base, cutting the Cazenovia lead to 5-4.
 
EC evened things up in the bottom of the fifth inning as a two-out double by Hanner scored Bellinger from second, who led-off the inning with a double of his own.
 
With the game tied 5-5, Elmira continued their rally in the bottom of the sixth as the Soaring Eagles scored a pair of runs on yet another timely two-out situation.  This time it would be Bellinger who played the hero as he blistered a shot down the left field line, scoring Colon from second and Mike Burghardt '18 from first, giving Elmira their first lead since the bottom of the third inning. 
 
After a scoreless seventh inning, Elmira turned the game over to their bullpen in the eighth with hopes of closing out the Wildcats as the Soaring Eagles held a 7-5 lead.  In the inning, Cazenovia would take advantage of a pair of wild pitches and string together a pair of hits as well to even the game at 7-7.
 
The game remained tied through the bottom of the eighth and top of the ninth as the heart of Elmira's lineup took to the plate to begin the bottom of the ninth inning.  Despite falling behind in the count 1-2, Colon began the ninth with a double to center field, allowing Burghardt to lay down a sacrifice bunt, putting Colon 90 feet from an EC win.
 
Bellinger stepped to the plate next but with one out and first base open, Cazenovia opted to intentionally walk him to face Bawiec, who was hitless with two strikeouts entering the at-bat.  With the infield playing in, Bawiec took the second pitch he saw and blooped it into shallow center field, scoring Colon from third for a walk-off 8-7 win.