Baseball | 5/11/2021 11:14:00 PM
No. 4 Keuka College rallied from a 10-1 deficit to earn a 15-12 victory over No. 5 Elmira College in the first round of the 2021 Empire 8 Conference Championships on Tuesday, May 11 from Finger Lakes Community College. The Wolves advance to the Empire 8 Semifinal best-of-three series and will travel to face top-seed St. John Fisher College in a doubleheader Friday, May 14.
Elmira (6-27-1), which had won two of its last three matchups against Keuka (6-14-1) and tied the most recent, produced a season-high 14 hits and was errorless on defense for just the third time this season. But the Wolves pounced on EC's pitching, pounding out 15 hits to go along with seven bases on balls and a trio of hit-by-pitches.
Keuka's Josh Tryon set a Keuka single-game record and tied a 2021 NCAA single-game high with three triples. Tryon went 4-for-5 with four RBI and three runs scored. Ryan Seales reached base in all six of his plate appearances, going 3-for-3 with three walks and two RBI. Maxwell Yale, Matt Vaccaro and Dave Verrett had two hits and two runs apiece.
Joe DiBendetto earned the win in relief, allowing seven hits and three runs (two earned) in 4.2 innings of relief. He was able to keep the Elmira offense at bay while Keuka chipped into nine-run deficit. Adam Pankowski pitched three scoreless innings to earn his second save of the season.
Every player in the Elmira lineup scored at least one run for the Soaring Eagles, while eight finished with at least one hit or drove in a run. Designated hitter Colin McLaughlin and catcher Jourdan Plaisted led the way, as both batted 3-for-5. Myles Littlejohn and Jarod Signorelli also logged multi-hit performances with two hits in four at-bats.
Tied 1-1 entering the second inning, the Soaring Eagles sent 12 men to the plate and exploded for nine runs on seven hits, three walks, and one infield error by the Wolves. Plaisted, Littlejohn, and Jared Money led off with three straight singles, with the latter picking up an RBI to put EC ahead 2-1. With the bases loaded, Hake doubled and plated two runs. An RBI single off the bat of McLaughlin and a bases-loaded walk widened the gap to 6-1 in Elmira's favor, before Plaisted and Littlejohn both singled and drove in runs during their second plate appearances of the inning.
Keuka didn't wait long to start chipping away at the EC lead. The Wolves put four runs on the scoreboard in the bottom of the second, but the big inning came in the fourth. Keuka scored six runs, including a game-tying two-run triple from Tryon that leveled the score at 10-10. A sac fly in the ensuing at-bat by Yale allowed Tryon to race home and give the Wolves the lead for good.
Trailing 13-10, Elmira came within one run by using small-ball tactics to score twice in the top of the seventh. However, Keuka added insurance runs in the seventh and eighth.
Looking ahead to the weekend, St. John Fisher has won all five meetings against Keuka this season by a combined 89-13 score. The two teams met most recently on May 8, with the Cardinals recording a 20-3 victory.
2021 Empire 8 Baseball Championship Schedule
Empire 8 First Round – Tuesday, May 11
#4 Keuka College defeats #5 Elmira College, 15-12 – STATS
(Game to be [played at Finger Lakes Community College)
Empire 8 Semifinal Round (Best-of-3, Doubleheader Friday, May 14, If Necessary, Deciding Game Saturday, May 15 or Sunday, May 16
#4 Keuka College at #1 St. John Fisher College – 12 p.m. Friday (doubleheader)/1 p.m. Saturday (if game three is neccessary) – VIDEO – LIVE STATS
#3 Utica College at #2 Houghton College – 2 p.m. Friday (doubleheader)/3 p.m. Saturday (if game three is neccessary) – VIDEO – LIVE STATS
*** Friday, May 14, doubleheader (two nine inning games)***
If series is split, game 3 is a single game on either Saturday, May 15 or Sunday, May 16
Empire 8 Championship Round (Best-of-3, Doubleheader Friday, May 21, If Necessary, Deciding Game Saturday, May 22 or Sunday, May 23
Winner of Semifinal Round 1 vs. Winner of Semifinal Round 2 – TBA at Highest Remaining Seed
***Friday, May 21, doubleheader (two nine inning games)***
If series is split, game 3 is a single game on either Saturday, May 22 or Sunday, May 23