LOWVILLE, N.Y. – The Ithaca College baseball program went 1-1 in an Empire 8 Conference doubleheader with SUNY Canton on Saturday at Lowville High School. In what was a Jekyll and Hyde afternoon, Ithaca dropped the opener, 2-1, but bounced back in the night cap with a convincing 18-0 shutout victory. The Bombers are now 15-12 overall on the season and 8-6 in the Empire 8.

GAME ONE: Canton 2, Ithaca 1

Offense came at a premium in the opener as the conference foes combined for just seven hits in the seven-inning contest, with five of coming before the top of the seventh inning.

Canton dealt the big blow in Game One with a two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning off the bat of Wilson Matos, which proved to be enough for the Kangaroos. Canton notched two hits in that inning, but were held to just one for the remainder of the game by senior Jack Morello.

Morello suffered a tough loss in six solid innings of work, as he struck out three batters and walked one in his second defeat of the season.

Ithaca was held at bay all afternoon until the seventh inning. Freshman Jack Lynch stroked a one-out pinch hit double and then moved up to third on a wild pitch on a walk. That plate appearance chased Canton starter, Jake Vierno, from the game, and then junior Jake Generali singled in Lynch to make the score 2-1 in favor of Canton with one out.

The Bombers had a chance to tie the game with two runners on, but a fly out and groundout ended the contest.

GAME TWO: Ithaca 18, Canton 0

It was all Bombers in the night cap, as IC plated two runs apiece in the first, second and fourth innings, and then blew the game open with an eight-spot in the top of the fifth to mount a 14-0 lead. IC then scored another run in the seventh and capped off the onslaught with three more in the ninth for the 18-0 blowout win.

Junior Jackson Smith went 3-for-5, including two doubles, with four runs scored and an RBI, while junior Sam Little was 2-for-2 with two runs and two RBI.

Junior Webb Little also notched a multi-hit contest in a 2-for-3 effort, as did junior Cam Fuoti (2-for-4) and freshman Chris Dietz (2-for-3). Fuoti also drove in three, to go along with three runs scored, two walks, a stolen base and a triple. Dietz had three RBI, two runs and a double. Junior John Peterson also recorded an extra base hit for IC.

On the mound, junior Jake Binder improved to 5-2 on the season with seven shutout innings. Binder scattered three hits and struck out seven batters to increase his scoreless innings streak to 19 straight. It also marks his second consecutive shutout, this one a combined blanking, as sophomore Tom Cosentino fired the final two innings of relief and fanned two hitters.

Ithaca will wrap up its series with Canton tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m. at Freeman Field.