Rochester, N.Y.—The baseball team (12-13, 7-3 Empire 8) rallied to beat host St. John Fisher (20-10, 7-3 Empire 8) 4-2 in game two of an Empire 8 doubleheader Saturday. The Cardinals won the opener 10-8. Ithaca, who is 10-4 in-region, is tied atop the conference standings with St. John Fisher; the two teams conclude their weekend series with a doubleheader Sunday.
Junior Sean Weber (Columbia/East Schodack) hit a two-out double in the sixth inning of the nightcap to bring home the winning run. Junior third baseman David Ahonen (Victor/Farmington), who had reached on a two-out error, scored the run.
Ithaca tacked on an insurance run in the seventh on a run-scoring single by senior catcher Mike Armstrong (Penfield/Penfield). Armstrong's hit brought home freshman second baseman Matt Keller (Pelham/Pelham), who'd drawn a lead-off walk.
Senior outfielder #T.J. Abone# (Rome Free Academy/Rome) collected two of Ithaca's six hits. He led off the game with a double and scored on a one-out double by junior first baseman Trevor Wolf (Lansing/Freeville). Wolf advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on Ahonen's sacrifice fly.
Senior Tom Fishback (Webster-Schroeder/Penfield) improved to 6-2 and lowered his ERA to 2.75 with a complete-game victory. He allowed six hits, struck out six Cardinals and didn't issue a walk. He retired the last eight batters, including three straight strikeouts to close out the fifth after St. John Fisher had loaded the bases with no outs.
Ithaca pounded out 10 hits in the opener and held a 6-3 lead after three innings before the Cardinals rallied. The Bombers scored twice in the top of the seventh before the Cardinals worked out of a bases-loaded/no-out jam.
Wolf singled to lead off the seventh and went to third on an Ahonen double. Abone singled in one run and Ahonen scored on a double-play grounder.
Sophomore shortstop Russ Martens (Avon/Avon, Conn.) hit a two-run single during Ithaca's five-run second. Keller and left fielder junior Matt Streich (East Greenwich/East Greenwich, R.I.) added run-scoring hits and Keller scored on a passed ball. Wolf tripled and scored on one of Ahonen's three hits in the third.
Wolf and Abone added a pair of hits.
Game one box score
Game two box score
