CORTLAND, N.Y. – The Ithaca College baseball team dropped an 8-6 mid-week non-conference matchup to St. Lawrence at Gutchess Lumber Sports Complex on Wednesday afternoon. With the loss, Ithaca is now 5-5 on the season, while St. Lawrence improves to 3-3.

St. Lawrence got on the board quickly in the top of the first inning as a one-out walk moved up to second on an error and scored on a double off the left field wall. After the second out was recorded, the Saints plated three more runs to build a 4-0 lead.

The Saints extended their lead to 6-0 in the second without recording a hit. A pair of walks were moved up on a sac bunt and the first run scored on a passed ball. The second came home on a sac fly. In the third, St. Lawrence scratched another run across the plate for a 7-0 edge.

Ithaca got on the board in the bottom of the third as sophomore Mike Nauta scored on a wild pitch to make the score 7-1. The Bombers threatened in the bottom of the fifth as a pair of walks moved into scoring position with two outs, but a pop up to short kept IC off the board.

In the bottom of the sixth, Ithaca scored two runs on a screaming double down the right field line from Nauta that drove in senior Jack Lynch and first-year Matt Fabian, but the inning came to an end as Nauta tried to stretch out a triple.

The Bombers threatened again in the seventh with back-to-back singles from seniors Buzz Shirley and Sam Kinum, but an inning-ending double play kept the score at 7-3 in favor of St. Lawrence.

St. Lawrence added an insurance run in the top half of the ninth, but the Bombers did not go down without a fight. IC loaded the bases in three straight plate appearances with a double from Nauta and hit by pitches to first-year Louis Fabbo and Shirley. Sophomore Gil Merod drove home Nauta with a base hit to right-center and then Lynch lifted a sac fly to center for another run. First-year Alex Barker-Hook followed with a liner to left to make the score 8-6, but a groundout to first base ended the game.

Nauta was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI, while five other Bombers collected hits.

Sophomore Garrett Bell took the loss in a 1.0-inning start. Bell allowed four unearned runs with a strikeout. Five other hurlers saw action on Wednesday, as first-year Nate Scott highlighted the bullpen with four strikeouts in 3.0 innings.

The Bombers will play Vassar College in four games this weekend. IC heads to Vassar on Saturday and played at home on Sunday.