ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College baseball program will officially return to action this Saturday, March 20 with a non-conference contest at Elmira College at 5 p.m. to kick-off an anticipated 29-game schedule. Once the first pitch is thrown on Saturday, the Bombers' 377-day stretch of no contests will end.
* All games subject to change based on campus, local, and state health guidelines*
Ithaca played just seven games last spring before COVID-19 canceled the remainder of the season.
As a note for the 2021 season, no spectators will be permitted to Freeman Field or any Liberty League road contests. For road non-conference games, it is suggested to check the opposing team's athletic website for spectator policies.
This season, all IC home games will have live stats, webcasts and social media updates. Links to each of those outlets can be accessed below. Links to live stats and webcasts are also available on the baseball schedule page on athletics.ithaca.edu.
LIVE STATS |
WEBCAST (YOUTUBE) |
WEBCAST (FACEBOOK)
LIVE UPDATES (BOMBER SPORTS) |
LIVE UPDATES (ITHACA BASEBALL)
After Saturday's matchup, Ithaca and Elmira will square off again in a doubleheader at Freeman Field the following day (March 21) at 12 p.m. IC then has a tentatively schedule contest against Utica College at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, March 24.
From March 27 to April 11, the Bombers will complete solely against Liberty League foes. IC begins with a pair of non-league games at the University of Rochester on the 27th at 1 p.m. The Bombers and Yellowjackets will come to South Hill the next afternoon for two more non-league contests beginning at 12 p.m.
The following weekend (Friday, April 2 and Saturday, April 3), Ithaca plays RIT in home-and-home doubleheaders. All four games are slated as non-league matchups and will start at 1 p.m. on Friday and 12 p.m. Saturday.
Official Liberty League games get underway on April 10-11 with a four-game series against Bard College. IC travels to Annandale-on-Hudson on the 10th at 12 p.m. and plays at Freeman Field at 12 p.m. on the 11th.
A non-conference game against St. John Fisher on April 14 separates the remainder of the Liberty League schedule. That contest is still TBA for location and time.
The next three weekends, April 17-18, April 24-25 and May 8-9, are all Liberty League opponents and four-game series. Vassar College is up first in Ithaca on the 17th and then in Poughkeepsie on the 18th. IC then heads to Clarkson University on the 24th and returns to Freeman Field for a pair on the 25th. The regular season will conclude with four more games against Rochester – in Ithaca on the 8th and at U of R on the 9th.
The Liberty League Tournament is slated to be played on May 12th and 15th. More information on that championship will be released at a later date.
A young team a year ago after the graduation of 13 seniors in 2019, the Bombers are eager to return to action and to see what they can accomplish with a full season under second-year head coach
David Valesente.
IC has eight seniors and graduate students on this year's team.
Buzz Shirley and
Charlie Hammel are the graduate students, while
Jack Lynch,
Brett Budzak,
Sam Kinum,
Aaron Shoemaker,
Garrett Callaghan and
Alex Robinson make up the senior class.
The Bombers have three juniors this spring in
Matt Smith,
Jason Sarubbi and
Kyle Lambert, while the sophomore group consists of eight players –
Mike Nauta,
Gil Merod,
Garrett Bell,
Tyler Edelman,
Matt Fabian,
Ryan Caulfield,
Matt Chase and
Daniel Blanc.
Ithaca's largest contingent of players this season are its first-years. Valesente and his staff –
Cooper Belyea '15 and
Justin Forster – heavily recruited and brought in 20 newcomers to the program.
Those first-years are
Nate Scott,
Ben Church,
Alex Barker-Hook,
Matteo Ragusa,
Colin Shashaty,
Kyle Gordon,
Ethan McDonough,
Mack Sloan,
Louis Fabbo,
Dom Trippi,
Ben Landis,
Sean Kelly,
John Griffin,
Nate Ray,
Jack Meyer,
Bo Nicholson,
David Ames,
Carson Ashby,
Jake Michaud and
Ethan Rothstein.
