ITHACA, N.Y. -- The baseball team (18-16, 10-4 Empire 8) rallied to beat visiting Rochester Institute of Technology (16-18, 5-9 Empire 8) 5-4 in game one of a doubleheader Saturday, then completed the sweep with a 6-4 victory in the nightcap.

The Bombers trailed 2-0 and 3-2 before rallying to win the opener on fifth-inning home runs by senior first baseman Trevor Wolf (Lansing/Freeville) and senior outfielder #T.J. Abone# (Rome Free Academy/Rome). Wolf led off the inning with his  third home run of the spring to tie the game at 3-3 and Abone's two-run home run three batters later put the Bombers ahead to stay.

Freshman Jasper Adams (Amherst Regional/Amherst, Mass.) picked up his first career win, throwing three innings of one-run, five-hit relief. Sophomore Tucker Healy (Needham/Needham, Mass.) picked up the save (his second) by striking out a pair of Tigers in the seventh.

Healy entered the game after RIT's first two batters reached base on a double and  a walk. A sacrifice attempt turned into the first out when senior catcher Mike Armstrong (Penfield/Penfield) caught a foul bunt and Healy sandwiched two strikeouts around a pair of walks.

Abone singled in a pair of first-inning runs to tie the score at two after RIT opened the game with two runs in the top of the first. He and Wolf -- who added a double -- both had two of Ithaca's nine hits.

In game two, a three-run first-inning rally (that was interrupted by a 37-minute rain delay) put the Bombers ahead to stay after the Tigers scored in the top of the inning. Abone, who led off the game with a double, and Wolf pulled off a double steal and Abone scored on the play when the pitch got away from the catcher. Junior third baseman David Ahonen (Farmington/Victor) followed with a two-run home run (his third of the season).

Ithaca extended its lead in the third on a run-scoring double by junior Sean Weber (Columbia/East Schodack). Armstrong singled home freshman shortstop Matt Keller (Pelham/Pelham) in the fourth and junior second baseman Jarrod Surine (Trumansburg/Trumansburg) came home on an infield grounder in the fifth to cap Ithaca's scoring.

Healy earned his second save of the day, picking up a strikeout to end the seventh inning after RIT had loaded the bases. Junior Dan Lynch (Williamsville South/East Amherst) improved to 2-4, fanning six in 6.2 innings.

Abone and Armstrong both had a pair of hits.

Ithaca and RIT play a 1 p.m. doubleheader Sunday at Freeman Field; with a pair of wins the Bombers will wrap up a share of the Empire 8 title (they've won all nine conference championships since baseball became a league sport).


Game one box score

Game two box score