Cortland, N.Y.--The No. 24 Bombers (12-5) fell 8-3 to15th-ranked Cortland (15-6) Thursday afternoon. Senior Dylan Perez (Conval Regional/Peterborough, N.H.) drove in two of Ithaca's runs with a home run in the fourth inning.

Perez's round-tripper came with two outs in the fourth. Senior Kurt Bednarcyk (Fairport/Fairport), who led off the inning with a double, scored on the homer. Bednarcyk collected a pair of hits in the game, and is hitting .302 on the season. Perez leads the Bombers in hitting at .393 and ranks second with 17 runs batted in 17 games.

Ithaca's third run came in the eighth inning. Matt Samela (Staples/Westport, Conn.) led off with a double right center. He scored on a single from Bednarcyk.

Sophomore right fielder Rob Zappia (Greece Athena/Rochester) went 2-for-2 in the game, hitting a double in the fifth. Pinch hitter Russ Martens (Avon/Avon, Conn.) also doubled in the game. He is hitting .375 on the season.

The Bombers used sixth pitchers in the game. Senior Pete MacDaniel (Scuylerville/Gansevoort) and freshman Brian Eggleston (Chenango Valley/Binghamton) each held the Red Dragons scoreless. Sophomore Andrew Wall (Newfield/Newfield) struck out three and allowed just an unearned run in 1 1/3 innings.

Ithaca returns to Empire 8 play with doubleheaders Saturday and Sunday against Stevens Institute of Technology.

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