ITHACA, N.Y.— The Bombers (20-5, 10-1 Empire 8) opened their Saturday doubleheader against St. John Fisher (14-10, 4-3 Empire 8) with a 5-3 victory. Senior righthander Pete MacDaniel (Schuylerville/Gansevoort) improved his record to a perfect 7-0 with the victory. The Bombers fell 7-3 in the second game.

The Bombers scored all five of their game one runs in the fourth inning. Seniors Matt Samela (Staples/Westport, Conn.) and Kurt Bednarcyk (Fairport/Fairport) led off the inning with singles. They both scored on a triple from fellow senior Dylan Perez (Con Val Regional/Peterborough, N.H.), the first of his season. Sophomore David Ahonen (Victor/Farmington) drove in Perez with a sacrifice fly to right.

After a groundout and walk, sophomore Rob Zappia (Greece Athena/Rochester) launched his first career homer, a two-run shot to right center.

Ithaca's five runs came on just six hits. Perez had the Bombers' lone multi-hit game.

MacDaniel's seven wins lead the team. He threw his fifth doubleheader of the season Saturday, striking out seven. MacDaniel allowed seven hits and walked just two Cardinals.

In game two, Ithaca took a 3-1 lead after three innings. Ahonen hit an RBI double to drive in Bednarcyk in the first, and Zappia and sophomore Matt Streich (East Greenwich/East Greenwich, R.I.) each had run-scoring hits in the third.

Fisher scored six times in the game's final three innings to pick up the win, their first in their last five games at Freeman Field.

Ahonen went 3-for-3 in game two, raising his average to .380. The Bombers hit five doubles in the game, with Ahonen, Streich, Bednarcyk, junior #T.J. Abone# (Rome Free Academy/Rome) and freshman Conor Thompson (West Genesee/Syracuse) all collecting two-base hits.

Ithaca and Fisher return to action Sunday, with a pair of games set to begin at 1 p.m. at Freeman Field.

Game One Box Score

Game Two Box Score