Ithaca's Season Comes to an End with 4-0 Loss to No. 21 Southern Maine
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Ithaca College baseball team saw its season come to an end on Saturday evening against No. 21 Southern Maine, as the Bombers dropped a 4-0 decision in the NCAA Division III New York Regional at Onondaga Community College. Ithaca, which ends the year with a 30-13 record, fought through the elimination bracket to get to within one game of playing for a regional championship. The Bombers topped No. 17 The College of New Jersey in the first game today by a 9-4 score.
Ithaca 9, TCNJ 4
TCNJ jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first on a pair of hits. The Lions' first two batters reached on singles and moved up into scoring position on the second base hit. A groundout made the score 1-0 and then a sacrifice fly plated the second run.
The Bombers answered in the bottom of the first with four runs on two hits. Sophomore
Webb Little drew a one-out hit by pitch and senior
Trevor Thompson followed with a walk. After a lineout retired the second out of the frame, senior
Ryan Henchey singled down the right field line to bring in W. Little to get Ithaca on the board. Back-to-back walks to sophomores
Andrew Bailey and
Adam Gallagher tied the game up at 2-2, and then junior
Domenic Boresta doubled in Henchey and Thompson to put Ithaca up, 4-2.
Ithaca added to its lead in the third inning with an RBI single to the right-center gap from Gallagher to push home Henchey from second base. Henchey found his way on with a walk and then stole second to move into scoring position.
In the bottom of the fifth, Thompson led off with a no-doubt solo shot to left field to give the Bombers a 6-2 advantage.
TCNJ got a run back in the top of the sixth on an infield single with two outs. A lead-off single for the Lions made his way to third on back-to-back groundouts.
Another run would score for TCNJ in the seventh on a bases loaded balk to make the score 6-4. After a walk loaded the bases once again, Barer was lifted from the game for freshman
Matt Eiel, who induced an inning-ending double play on the first pitch.
Barer put together the longest outing of his career, as he tossed 6.1 innings and allowed four runs on six hits with a strikeout. Barer improved his record to 2-0 on the season. Eiel earned his first collegiate save in 2.2 innings of relief with just one hit allowed to go along with a strikeout.
The Bombers added three more runs in the bottom of the eighth to push their lead out to the eventual final score of 9-4. The inning started with a bunt single by Boresta and a hit by pitch to Carey. A sac bunt and error loaded the bases with no outs, and then W. Little singled to center to bring home two runs. Sophomore
Sam Little then lifted a sac fly to left, which allowed Savacool to scamper home for the final run of the game.
Savacool, Henchey and Boresta all went 2-for-4 against TCNJ. Boresta also had two RBI, as did Gallagher and W. Little.
Today's meeting was the first between the schools since 1993 when TCNJ was called Trenton State.
Southern Maine 4, Ithaca 0
In the top of the first inning, Southern Maine places runners at the corners with two outs after an infield single and walk. After the free pass, a Huskies batter sent a shot to the left-center gap which looked destined to split the outfielders and bring in two runs, but Boresta made an unbelievable, full extension grab to retire the side.
The teams would place a runner on third base on three different occasions between the bottom of the second and bottom of the fourth, but neither was able to cash in on the opportunity and the game remained scoreless heading to the fifth inning.
Southern Maine ended the scoreless battle with a four-run seventh inning. The Huskies scored the first run on a passed ball, and a pitch later, Southern Maine laid down a safety squeeze to make the score 2-0. Southern Maine kept the inning going with an RBI single to left field to increase the lead to 3-0, and the batter moved up on the throw home. A double down the left field line made the score, 4-0, which forced starting pitcher Bailey out of the contest.
Bailey tossed 6.2 innings and allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits with two strikeouts. Eiel entered for his second game of relief on the day and fired 2.1 innings and gave up one hit.
Ithaca put together a couple more scoring chances in the sixth and seventh innings by placing a pair of runners on in each frame with one out, but the Bombers couldn't capitalize. Ithaca would strand nine base runners in the contest.
Seven different players recorded a hit for Ithaca in the loss.