Auburn, N.Y. – Junior
Nick Sottung (Pulaski/Pulaski) threw seven shutout innings to lead the second -seeded Ithaca Bombers to a10-0 win over seventh-seeded Westfield State in the third game at the NCAA NY regional. Ithaca advances to play St. John Fisher Thursday at 1 p.m. The Owls will take on Skidmore in an elimination game Thursday at 10 a.m.
The Bombers took advantage of nine walks, four errors, three hit batters and two wild pitches to plate 10 runs with only nine hits. They broke open a scoreless game with three third-inning runs despite only one hit – a two-run single by junior second baseman
Todd Czerno (Columbia/Brainard). Westfield State freshman
Jeff Fields (Pittsfield/Pittsfield, Mass.) opened the inning by loading the bases with hit batsmen: junior right fielder
Eric Ferguson (Columbia/East Greenbush), junior catcher
Rob Raux (Ilion/Frankfort) and senior first baseman
Jason Friedman (Whitney Young/Chicago, Ill.) were each hit by a pitch and each came around to score. After
Czerno's single brought
Ferguson and
Raux home,
Friedman scored on a throwing error by the Owls' catcher.
Sottung scattered four hits, striking out six and issuing one walk. He faced only three batters over the minimum and did not allow a runner past second base. The win was the 23rd of his career, tying him with all-American
Tom O'Connor (2003-05) for sixth on the program's all-time list.
Sottung's cousin,
Kyle Sottung, holds the Bomber record with 28 career wins.
Sophomore third baseman
Dylan Perez (Conval [Conn.]/Peterborough, N.H.) added a two-run single in the fifth, two batters after
Czerno singled in a run.
Czerno finished with four RBI's. He and
Ferguson both collected two hits. The Bombers are making their 41st NCAA playoff appearance; their 30 trips to the NCAA's Division III tournament are the most of any school.
Freshman second baseman
Ben Wagner (Mount St. Charles Academy/Cumberland, Mich.) singled twice for two of Westfield State's five hits.
Box scoreThe rest of Wednesday's revised schedule:
Game 4: #1 Cortland vs. Manhattanville, approximately 11:40 p.m.
