Stevens Defeats Fisher; Utica Downs Elmira; Ithaca Sweeps Houghton

4/3/2015 8:45:00 PM

STEVENS v ST. JOHN FISHER
Freshmen Drew Hanke and Tommy Baronner delivered RBI hits in the bottom of the eighth to help the Stevens Institute of Technology baseball team defeat St. John Fisher College 7-6 on Friday.
 
The second was halted due to time restrictions with Stevens leading 5-1 at the end of the fifth innings.
 
The Cardinals (6-12) struck first after an errant pickoff throw eluded the first basemen allowing junior Shane Barley to score. The Ducks (11-9) took the lead in the bottom of the third after junior Nick Sieber singled to center to drive in a run and fellow junior Zeph Walters recorded an RBI groundout.
 
The game stayed that way until the top of the sixth, when junior Joe Simmons hit a two-run homer to right field, but Walters answered in the bottom of the inning to once again even the score at four. The next inning, junior Mark Roman ripped an RBI double to left center which was followed up by a single down the right field line by junior Calvin Woolhiser giving Fisher a two-run lead.
 
Stevens loaded the bases in the bottom of eighth after a pair of walks to Walters and freshman Alex Detweiler and two fielder's choices. The Ducks cut the deficit to one on an RBI groundout by senior Ryan Mannello. The big came from Hanke, who delivered a huge double to right center to score two runs. Hanke came around to score on a single from Baronner to put the home team up 7-5.
 
A home-run by freshman Scott Eisenmenger cut the lead in half, but junior Ryan Patterson knocked down the save with a lazy fly ball to right field for the final out.
 
Walters finished with two RBI's while senior Gregg Nickels threw out two baserunners trying to steal second. Junior Robert Robbins went six and two thirds innings with eight strikeouts while fellow junior Danny McIntyre fanned two in an inning and a third.
 
Woolhiser went 4-for-4 while Roman collected three and Simmons went 2-for-3 with two runs batted in. Junior Stephen Lewis went six innings and allowed three runs on six hits while receiving the no decision.
 
The second game will start at 9:30 am tomorrow and will be followed by a full nine inning game after that conclusion.


UTICA v ELMIRA
The Utica College baseball team downed Elmira 6-3 Friday afternoon at Dunn Field.  UC's pitcher and catcher combo guided the Pioneers to victory asStephen Szatko (Sauquoit, NY/Sauquoit Valley) tossed seven innings for the win while backstop Thomas Dinnen(Cortlandt Manor, NY/Walter Panas ) went 3-for-5 at the plate with two RBI.

Leadoff Adam Pexton (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) andRyan Watson (Deerfield, NY/Whitesboro) each added two hits.  Pexton drove in two runs with a double while Watson scored once along with snagging the save for Utica.  Benjamin Hobaica (Clinton, NY/Clinton) had a game-high with three stolen bases and two runs scored on just one hit.

Szatko tossed seven innings en route to his team-best fourth win of the season while striking out six, allowing only two runs (one earned).

The teams return to the diamond Saturday for a doubleheader.  First pitch of game one's seven inning contest is set for 12 p.m.  Game two will be a nine inning game set to begin shortly after game one.


ITHACA v HOUGHTON
The Ithaca College baseball team evened its record to 7-7 on the season with a doubleheader sweep of Houghton on Friday afternoon. Ithaca breezed by the Highlanders in the opener, 13-3, and completed the sweep with a 6-1 win in Game Two.

Game One: Ithaca 13, Houghton 3

The Bombers rolled to a 10-run victory in the opener thanks in part to 19 hits – a new season-best. Ithaca stroked five doubles in Game One and six batters recorded at least two hits in the contest. Six other Bombers tallied singles in the game for a total of 12 batters to reach on hits.

Sophomore Josh Savacool was a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with three runs scored and three RBI. Savacool notched a double and stole a base as well.

Senior Cooper Belyea drove in two runs in a 2-for-3 opener with a double and run scored, while classmate Christian Brown went 1-for-3 with two RBI and a steal.

Senior Matt Connolly, junior Zach Pidgeon and sophomore Trevor Thompson all collected two hits in Game One. Both of Connolly's hits went for extra bases and he also scored twice with an RBI, Pidgeon doubled with a run and RBI, and Thompson scored two runs.

Ithaca did most of its damage in the game between the fourth and sixth innings. During those three frames, the Bombers scored nine of their 13 runs on 11 hits.

Senior Andrew Sanders picked up his second victory in four days over six innings of work. Sanders struck out two batters with no walks and allowed just four hits and one earned run. He produced 11 groundouts against 21 batters faced and his earned run average is now down to a miniscule 1.24.

Sophomore Logan Barer and junior Ryan Contegni combined to finish off Game One in the seventh.

Game Two: Ithaca 6, Houghton 1

Ithaca notched its fifth straight victory in Game Two with a 6-1 win, which also leveled the Bombers' record at .500 for the first time all season.

Junior Benji Parkes tossed Ithaca's second complete game of the year with nine strikeouts and one walk for his first win. Parkes scattered six hits and gave up an unearned run. The nine strikeouts by Parkes are the most for an Ithaca hurler this season.

Thompson highlighted Ithaca's offense in Game Two with a homerun in a 2-for-4 showing. He scored three times, drove in two and stole a base.

Pidgeon and Belyea recorded another two-hit contest. Belyea tallied two RBI and stole a base.

Junior Stephen Yanchus picked up three hits in four trips to the plate with two RBI and a run.

Connolly and Dougherty both stole a base and recorded a hit, as did senior John Stanley and freshman Domenic Boresta.